Letters of Asa Gray [microform]

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GARDENS

LIBRARY

The Gift of Beatrix Farrand

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REEF

POINT

GARDENS

LIBRARY

The Gift of Beatrix Farrand

to the General Library
University of Calif 'ornia, Berkeley

LANDSCAPE
ARCHJTiCTURE

SCIENTIFIC PAPERS. Selected by C. S. SARGENT.

I. Reviews of Works on Botany and Related Subjects,

1834-1887.

II. Essays, Biographical Sketches, 1841-1886.

2 vols. 8vo, each $3.00.

LETTERS OF ASA GRAY. Edited by JANE LORING
GRAY. With Portraits and other Illustrations. 2 vols.
crown 8vo, $4.00.

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY,
BOSTON AND NEW YORK.

LETTERS OF ASA GRAY

EDITED BY

JANE LORING GRAY

IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. I.

BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY

1894

Copyright, 1893,
BY JANE LORING GEAT.

All rights reserved.

LANDSCAPE
ARCHITECTURE

SECOND EDITION.

The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A.
Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Co.

Add to Lib.
Farrand Otf t?

v. I

LANDSCAPE

ARCH.

IIBHARI

NOTE.

IT has been my aim, in collecting and arranging the
" Letters " from Dr. Gray's large correspondence, to
show, as far as possible in his own words, his life and
his occupation. The greater part of the immense
mass of letters he wrote were necessarily purely sci-
entific, uninteresting except to the person addressed ;
so that many of those published are merely fragments,
and very few are given completely. I have made no
attempt to estimate his scientific or critical labors,
for they are sufficiently before the world in various
printed works ; but something of the personality of
the man and his many interests may be learned from
these familiar letters and from even the slight notes.

Dr. Gray began an Autobiography, but went no
further than to give a brief sketch of his early life.
This fragment is placed, with, some notes illustrative
of the early conditions in which his youth was passed,
at the beginning of the work.

It is owing to the kind assistance of many friends
that the Autobiography and Letters are thus pre-
sented ; among whom should be especially mentioned
Professors C. S. Sargent and Charles L. Jackson,
Dr. W. G. Farlow, Mr. J. H. Eedfield, and Mr.
Horace E. Scudder,

J. L. GRAY.

BOTANIC GARDEN, CAMBRIDGE,
July 1, 1893.

294

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PACK

I. AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 1810-1843 ...... 1

II. EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. 1831-1838 .... 29

III. FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. 1838-1839 ... 85

IV. A DECADE or WORK AT HOME. 1840-1850 272

NOTE ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS. The frontispiece portrait of Dr.
Gray is a photogravure from a photograph taken in 1867. The por-
trait facing page 286 is from a daguerreotype taken about 1841. The
view of the Botanic Garden House, facing page 358, is from a drawing
by Isaac Sprague.

LETTERS OF ASA GRAY.

CHAPTER I.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

1810-1843.

MY great-great-grandfather, John Gray, with his
family, among which was Robert Gray, supposed to
be one of his sons, emigrated from Londonderry,
Ireland, to Worcester, Mass., being part of a Scotch-
Irish colony.1 The farm they took up was on the
north side of what is now Lincoln Street.

Robert Gray, my great-grandfather, died in Worces-

1 This colony was composed of rig-id Presbyterians, who desired to
leave Ireland to escape various persecutions. They sent out the
Rev. Mr. Boyd, early in 1718, with an address to the Governor of
Massachusetts. The address, now in the Archives of the New
Hampshire Historical Society, was signed by three hundred and
nineteen persons, nine of whom were clergymen. The report brought
back by Mr. Boyd of his reception by the governor and of the
prospects of the country was so favorable that the addressers con-
verted their property into money, and embarked in five ships for
Boston, which they reached August 4, 1718. In Boston they sepa-
rated for different places, but the larger part were sent to Worcester,
then a frontier settlement of fifty-eight dwellings and two hundred
inhabitants, but needing a larger population as protection from the
Indians. John Gray — there were two of his name in the original
party — went to Worcester, where he owned considerable land, and
was evidently a man of influence in the colony, to judge from the
varioiis public offices held by him.

2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [1810.

ter, January 16, 1766. He married Sarah Wiley1
about the year 1729. They had ten children ; the
eighth was Moses Wiley Gray, my grandfather, born
in Worcester, December 31, 1745. About the year
1769, he married Sally Miller, daughter of Samuel
and Elisabeth (Hammond) Miller, of Worcester,
and removed to Templeton, Mass. About 1787 he
removed to Grafton, Vermont, where his wife died in
1793. In 1794 he removed to Oneida County, N. Y.,
and settled in the Sauquoit Valley,2 where he died
from injuries received from the fall of a tree, May 8,
1803.

My father, Moses Gray, was the. youngest of the
(eight?) children of his mother. There were three
half-brothers and a half-sister by a second wife, born
in Oneida County, none of whom survived my father.
He was born in Templeton, Mass., February 26,
1786.3 He was therefore in his eighteenth year when

1 Robert Gray, one of John Gray's sons, was twenty years old when
he came to America. There is a tradition in the family that the
acquaintance and courtship began on the voyage.

2 Sauquoit was a settlement in the eastern part of the town of
Paris, the township so named in grateful recognition of a supply of
food, sent by a Mr. Paris, of Oswego, at a time when the early
settlers were near starving. — A. G.

3 Moses Gray was the eighth child, — a boy and a girl were born
later, — and one step-brother, Watson, survived Moses Gray. Moses
Wiley Gray made the journey to Sauquoit, on horseback, taking be-
fore him his son Moses, then a boy of eight. The Mohawk Valley at
this time was the far West, with only slow and tedious communication
beyond Schenectady, but opening, in its lovely tributary valleys,
tempting regions of hill and valley, well wooded, with clear, spar-
kling streams. The land offered good farming opportunities when
cleared of trees, and the rapid streams gave good promise of water
power. Here Moses Wiley Gray took a farm on the top of a hill, and
cultivated the land for ten years. He was injured by the fall of a
tree, and his leg was amputated. He died the next day, May 8, 1803,
leaving his son Moses, with his stepmother and her children largely
dependent on his assistance.

1810.] AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 3

his father died. He used to say that he had only
six weeks of schooling; whether before or after
his father's death I am ignorant. But soon after
that event he was apprenticed to a tanner and cur-
rier (Mr. Gier) at Sauquoit, in whose employment
he must have been for a part of the time after he
came of age, for I was born in a little house which
had been a shoe-shop on the premises of the tan-
yard.

The fact of being born supposes a maternal ancestry.
July 30, 1809, my father married Roxana Howard.
She was born in Longmeadow, Mass., March 15,
1789 ; was a daughter of Joseph Howard, who was
born in Pomfret, Conn., March 8, 1766, and of
Submit (Luce) Howard, born at Somers, Conn.,
April 3, 1767 ; 1 and he was the grandson of John
Howard of Ipswich,2 Mass., and of Elisabeth Smith,
of the same town. He was the descendant of Thomas
Howard, who, with his wife and children, came from
Aylesford (or Maidstone), Kent, in the year 1634.

My mother came with her parents to Oneida County
and the Sauquoit Valley when only a few years old.3
Her father there joined a company which set up an
iron-forge. One of the early pieces of work of its
trip-hammer was to forge off three of my maternal

1 She was married in 1788.

2 The house is still standing which, built in 1648 by an ancestor of
Ralph Waldo Emerson, was bought by William Howard, in 1669.

3 Asa's mother was but four years old, when the family moved to
Sauquoit, and well remembered her mother's crying at the crossing of
the Hudson River, which must have seemed formidable in the small
boats of that time. Joseph Howard was a man of a very lovable
character, as shown from the affectionate remembrances of him by his
grandchildren, the eldest of whom, Asa, was much with him. He was
a deacon of the First Church in Sauquoit for forty years, and one of
the leading men in the town. He died in 1849.

4 A UTOBIOGRAPHY. [1812,

grandfather's fingers. This appears to have qualified
him to be the clerk in charge, or manager, of the
office and store of the Paris Furnace Company, which
established a small iron-smelting furnace on the
Sauquoit, two and a half miles above the village of
Sauquoit, in a deep and narrow valley which had the
name of Paris Furnace Hollow, now called Clayville,
the furnace long since having disappeared, a natural
consequence of the exhaustion of the charcoal fur-
nished by the woods of the surrounding hills. My
earliest recollections are of Paris Furnace Hollow,
for not long after I was born, as aforesaid, in
Sauquoit, on the eastern or Methodist side of the
creek, on the 18th of November, 1810, my father and
mother removed to Paris Furnace with me, their first-
born, and set up a small tannery there. Of this I
retain some vivid recollections, especially those con-
nected with the first use to which I was put, the
driving round the ring of the old horse which turned
the bark-mill, and the supplying the said mill with its
grist of bark, — a lonely and monotonous occupation.1

1 Moses Gray was a man of great activity and energy. He soon
added a shoe-shop to his tannery, where he hired a few hands to make
shoes from the hides he tanned, taking these again by wagon to
Albany, a journey of many days, where he bought his skins and some
necessary supplies. Money was scarce in the newly settled country,
and the things needed were mostly got by exchange. Meantime, as
the chance came, he was buying land on the hills around. Clay-
ville is where the valley narrows towards the source of the Sauquoit
Creek, as " rivers " are called in that neighborhood in old Dutch
fashion, and the hills are sharper and rougher. The scenery, how-
ever, is still beautiful, and the house which Moses Gray built two
or three years later yet stands, with a lovely near view of stream
and hill and wood. Asa Gray remembered his father building it.
Busy as the father was out of doors, the mother was perhaps busier
still. Asa, the younger brother by the first wife, was dying of con-
sumption ; he was moved on a bed from Sauquoit to Paris Furnace,

JET. 3.] AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 5

I was sent to the district school near by when three years
old ; and I either remember some of my performances
of that or the next year, or have been told them in
such way as to leave the matter doubtful.1 My earliest

and died very soon after, in May, 1811, aged twenty-three. When
the child was born, November 18, 1810, it was carried to him to
see, and he said he wished they would call it Asa, if it had had
no name as yet decided on. He was of a singularly sweet and gentle
character. The step-brothers were taken in turn to be taught and
trained. The hands employed on farm or in trade were generally
lodged and boarded. Often their clothes were mended or made. The
wheat and grain were home-raised, as were all the vegetables. There
was little fresh meat, except when a sheep or beef was killed, and
that meant salting and curing. Butter and cheese were all home-
made, and could be taken to Albany for sale, as was also grain ; as
the farm grew, more cows were added. Then the clothing was home-
made. The wool for flannel sheets and underclothing and for the
men's clothes was home-spun, the nicer portions taken off and carded
separately, and spun as worsted for the children's and women's
dresses ; also the yarn for socks for the whole family. A spinning-
girl was hired for part of the year, for flax was also spun for the
house linen and for wearing-apparel. The weaving was hired out.
The tailor came by the week to make up the clothing with the
mother's help, and after the tannery was given up, the shoe-maker
came at intervals to make the shoes. As the girls grew older they
took their share at the wool and flax wheels. It is said that the first
spinning of flax on the small wheel was introduced by the party of
Scotch-Irish emigrants of 1718 ; that the women gave lessons to the
women of Boston on Boston Common, and the fashion was so set for
that spinning. It is also said that the Irish potato was first introduced
into New England by these same colonists.

A widowed sister came with her children to make her home under
the same roof when the Grays moved later to a larger farm, and
there seemed always some boy to be housed and taught and trained.
Though his aid might tell out of doors, the home care came upon the
mother. But Mrs. Gray was a woman of singularly quiet and gentle
character, with great strength and decision, and possessed a wonderful
power of accomplishing and turning off work ; a woman of thoughtful,
earnest ways, conscientious and self -forgetting.

The father was quick, decided, and an immense worker ; from him
the son took his lively movements and his quick eagerness of
character, perhaps also his ready appreciation of fun.

1 His mother, having another child, was probably glad to have the

6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [1817,

distinct recollections of school are of spelling-matches,
in which at six or seven years I was a champion.1

active boy safe for a few hours. Her young sisters lived not far
away, and the youngest aunt, a girl of ten, was proud to take him to
school ; she had already taught him his letters. His father promised
him a spelling-book of his own as soon as he reached baker, which
was a marked spot of advance in the spelling-book. A few weeks
saw him far enough on, and the coveted prize was given. He went
proudly to school the next day, and as he could not speak to the
teacher to proclaim his triumph, he walked in front of her desk to
his seat, waving the book with a great flourish before her ! It was
just before he was three years old.

1 Of one of these, his friend, now over eighty years old, gives an
account in the succeeding letter : —

SAUQUOIT, February 19, 1888.

DEAR A. — I would like to give you some information of your un-
cle's early life if I were well informed, but I have only one little inci-
dent, and perhaps that would be of small account at the present era,
though at the time it took place it was of great moment to us both as
children. Asa lived with his parents at Paris Furnace, now Clayville.
I lived where Mr. Bragg afterward built his new house. Well, we
had a lovely teacher that summer by the name of Sally Stickney,
living at Colonel Avery's. She ruled by gentleness. For our class
she had an old-fashioned two-shilling piece, with a hole through to
insert a yard of blue ribbon. She put this over the head of the one
that stood first in our class. So it traveled every night, all that
summer, with some one of us, until the ribbon was worn and faded.
But more than all that, the one that stood at the head on the last
day of school was to be the owner of that two-shilling piece that we
had watched with jealous eyes so many weeks, and studied Web-
ster's old spelling-book so hard to gain. I think our eyes must
have magnified it, for I have never seen a coin since that seemed
so large. I think it was the same in Asa's eyes. Well, with hearts
beating fast, and eyes on the coveted prize, we were called on the
last day of school to spell ; we took our places ; I was at the head,
Asa next. I missed and he went above me ; my all was gone, but
it was worse to have him point his finger at me and say out loud
" kee-e-e.' ' I braved it without a tear ; a few more words would end
the strife. It came around to him, and he missed ; how quick I went
above him ; but in an instant he dropped his head on the desk before
him and wept as though his heart would break. School was dis-
missed, scholars were leaving ; still he did not move, until our kind
teacher came to him, whispered to him, soothed and petted him ; then

JET. 7.] A UTOBIOGRAPH Y. 1

There was a year or two of early boyhood in which I
was sent to a small " select " or private school, taught
at Sauquoit, by the son of the pastor of the parish ;
a year or two following, in which I was in my maternal
grandfather's family, near by, as a sort of office-boy ;
and at the age of twelve, or near it, I was sent off to
the Clinton Grammar School, nine miles away, where
I was drilled after a fashion in the rudiments of Latin

he jumped up and ran, I suppose wishing me in Halifax. I felt
sorry for him and would have been willing to divide with him if he
had not crowed over me so. I ran nearly all the way home — a good
mile — with my treasure, in great haste to have some one tell me the
best way to invest my money. I was told to go another three quarters
of a mile to Stephen Savage's store, spend it for calico, piece it up, to
keep forever. I could get only one yard for my two-shilling piece, not
nearly as good as can be bought now for three cents a yard. Not a trace
of the quilt is left, nor of the old schoolhouse, or of those merry
children ; perhaps a few have wandered on to fourscore years. So it
is little I can relate of his childhood, as the next year we moved from
that district, but as years passed on I often heard of his rising fame
with pleasure. If Eli Avery were living he would have been his best
biographer in this place.

The time has flown so fast since all this transpired, it seems as if
his tears had hardly dried before my grandchildren were studying his
Botanies.

Two years ago the 9th day of September, when the doctor was
visiting in Sauquoit, he called here and remarked, in his smiling way,
"that he had got all over feeling badly about that.'1'1 I said, "And
well you may when you have received so many honors since then."

Your loving friend,

HARRIET ROGERS.

A neighbor who survived to a great age also told a story of Dr.
Gray's boyhood, which he said he had from Dr. Gray's father: —

One day he had been set to hoe a certain amount of corn, and his
father found him reading instead of at his work. He gave him his
choice, to finish his task and then read comfortably, or to sit there in
the field all day in the hot sun, which one knows is no pleasant thing
in August, and read. He chose the reading, and his father said then,
" I made up my mind he might make something of a scholar, but he
would never make a farmer ! " And so his farther education was de-
cided.

8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [1825,

and Greek for two years, excepting the three summer
months, when I was taken home to assist in the corn
and hayfield. For my father, buying up, little by
little, lands which had been cleared for charcoal, had
become a farmer in a small way, an occupation to
which he was most inclined. So about these times
he sold out the tannery and bought a small farm
nearer to Sauquoit, mainly of the land which my
maternal grandfather had settled on, including the
house in which he had married my mother. To it he
removed, and there resided until he bought out an
adjacent small farm in addition, with an old house
very pleasantly situated, which he rebuilt and lived
in until after I had attained my majority. But soon
after that he bought a small farm close to the Sauquoit
village on the western or Presbyterian side, hard by
the meeting-house the family had always attended.
There my father indulged his special fancy by re-
building another old house, and the place, after his
death, and, much later, after that of my mother, fell
to my eldest brother, who still possesses it.1

I am not sure, but I think it was after two years
of the Clinton Grammar School that I was transferred
to Fairfield Academy.2 Fairfield, Herkimer County,

1 Asa Gray was the oldest of eight children, three sisters and four
brothers, of whom there survive two sisters and two brothers.

2 Dr. Gray visited Fairfield again in the summer of I860 or 1861.
He pointed out his old room, and told about some of the pranks he
and his room-mate Eli Avery had played there as boys, especially
once when they barred their room, escaped through the window
by clambering down a rope, and then enjoyed the efforts of the
master to break the door down. Oddly enough there was then a fresh
panel in the door, as if a later generation had tried the same trick.
There were a great many stories told of his exploits as a boy. But
he said everything had been fathered upon him, and that few were
really true. He was no doubt restless and active, and learning

^T. 14.] A UTOBIOGRAPHY. 9

lies high on the hills, between the West and East
Canada creeks, seven miles north of Little Falls.
I went there first in October, 1825, the date I fix by
that of the completion of the Erie Canal. For that
autumn, I think in November, I walked one after-
noon, along with some other students, down to Little
Falls to see there the arrival of the canal-boat which
bore the canal-commissioners, with the governor, De
Witt Clinton at their head, on their ceremonious voy-
age from Buffalo to New York city. It reached Little
Falls near sunset, and we walked to Fairfield that
evening. The reason for my being sent to Fairfield
Academy was that the principal of the academy was
Charles Avery, uncle of my companion from infancy,
Eli Avery, of our town, who died two years ago, who
had been educated by the help of Eli's father, Colonel
Avery, one of the owners of Paris furnace. Charles
Avery several years later took the professorship of

quickly and easily would have leisure for some mischief, but he said,
" I always learned my lessons." He loved to recall the long rambles
through the woods on Saturday holidays, and how in early spring he
and his companions would climb to a lookout and see where columns
of smoke could be seen above the trees, and so aim for the spot where
they were making maple sugar. There they would beg a little syrup,
and, boiling it down over their own fire and cooling it on snow, make
a candy more delicious than any confectionery of after life. He re-
membered how he trained himself to know the trees by their bark as
he ran through the woods, without looking up at the leaves, having
then the keen power of observation though no especial interest in
botany. For, as he always said, his first fancy was for mineralogy
rather than for botany.

And he told how when he was a medical student, as so many about
him were smoking, he tried it too ; it made him very sick at first, and
took him some time to get accustomed to it. At last, as he sat one
evening before the fire and smoked, he said to himself, " Really, I am
beginning to like it. It will become a habit ; I shall be dependent
upon it." And so he threw his cigar into the fire and gave up
smoking entirely.

10 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [1825,

chemistry, etc., at Hamilton College, lived to over
ninety, I think, and through all his later years seemed
to be very proud of having been my teacher. I cannot
say that I owe much to him, even for teaching me
mathematics, which was his forte. My capital memory
allowed me to " get my lessons " easily, and that
sufficed ; and I had none of the sharp drilling and
testing which I needed. He lingers in my memory in
another way. He was sharp at turning a penny in
various ways ; among them, he for the first year and
more jobbed the board of his nephew Eli and myself,
who were chums, paying for it in cooking-stoves and
the like from Paris furnace, in which through his
brother he had an interest, and boarding us round,
from one house to another (we had our room in the
academy buildings) until the stove which cooked our
dinner was paid for. Sometimes our fare was good
enough ; but one poor widow, who took us in her turn,
fed us so much upon boiled salt cod, not always of the
sweetest, that the sight of that dish still calls up an-
cient memories not altogether agreeable. I think it
was not at that time, but at a somewhat later date, and
with less excuse, that we mended our diet upon one
occasion, one winter's night, by carrying off the princi-
pal's best fowls from the roost, skinning them, as the
most expeditious and neatest way, and broiling them
in our room as the piece de resistance, for they were
tough, in a little supper we got up.

I here recall a favor which Mr. Avery did me. A
year or two after I had taken my M. D., my dear
old friend Professor Hadley, of Fairfield Medical
College, who had been filling the place at Hamilton
College pro tern., made me a candidate for the profes-
sorship there of chemistry, with geology and natural

^T. 15.] AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 11

science. But my old teacher, Mr. Avery, an alumnus
of the college, entered the lists and carried the day.
I wonder if I should have rusted out there if I had
got the place.

I must go back to say something of my omnivorous
reading, which was, after all, the larger part of my
education. I was a reader almost from my cradle,
and I read everything I could lay hands on. There
was no great choice in my early boyhood. But there
was a little subscription library at Sauquoit, the stock-
holders of which met four times a year, distributed the
books by auction to the highest bidder (maximum,
perhaps, ten or twelve cents) to have and to hold for
three months ; or if there was no competition each
took what he chose. Rather slow circulation this ;
but in the three months the books were thoroughly
read. History I rather took to, but especially voyages
and travels were my delight. There were no plays-,
not even Shakespeare in the library, but a sprinkling
of novels. My novel-reading, up to the time when I
was sent to school at Clinton, was confined, I think, to
Miss Porter's " Children of the Abbey" and " Thad-
deus of Warsaw " — the latter a soul-stirring pro-
duction, of which I can recall a good deal ; of the
former nothing distinctly. One Sunday afternoon, of
the first winter I was at Clinton, I went into the
public room of one of the two village inns, where half
a dozen of the villagers were assembled; and one
was reading aloud "Quentin Durward," which had
just appeared in an American (Philadelphia) reprint.
This was my introduction to the Waverley novels.
The next summer, when at home for farm work, I
found " Rob Roy " in the little library I have men-
tioned, took it out and read it with interest. In the

12 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [1826,

autumn, when I went back to school, some college (Ham-
ilton College) students were boarding at the house
where I boarded and lodged. One of them, seeing
my avidity for books, introduced me to the librarian
of the PhoBnix Society of the college, which had a
library strong in novels, which I was allowed, one by
one, to take home for reading. I suppose that I read
them every one.1

It was intended that I should go to college, and my
father could have put me through without serious in-
convenience ; but he was buying land about this time,
and he persuaded me to give up that idea and to go
at once at the study of medicine, which I did, in the
autumn of 1826, beginning with the session of 1826-
27 in the medical college (of the western district), then
a flourishing country medical school at Fairfield.2 I

1 In later life the novels were always saved for long journeys. The
novel of the day was picked out, and one pleasure of a long day's
ride in the train was to sit by his side and enjoy his pleasure at the
good things. The glee and delight with which he read Hawthorne,
especially the Wonder-Book and Tanglewood Tales, make days to re-
member. So he read George Eliot, and Adam Bede carried him hap-
pily through a fit of the toothache. Scott always remained the prime
favorite, and his last day of reading, when the final illness was steal-
ing so unexpectedly and insidiously on, was spent over The Monastery,
which he had been planning to read on his homeward voyage in 1887.

2 It was established as a college in. 1812, having existed as a school
in the academy since 1809. There were then only five others in the
United States : Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Dartmouth, and
Baltimore. The war of 1812 with Great Britain made a demand for
army surgeons along the frontier, and New York and Boston were
too far to send the young men to be educated. Dr. Hadley was pro-
fessor in the literary academy, and Dr. Willoughby, who had a wide
medical reputation, was also in Fairfield. They planned a medical
college, and applied to the legislature for aid ; the sum of $5,000 was
granted, and later, in 1812, $10,000. The first Faculty was organ-
ized by the Board of Regents of the New York State University,
which had control of the educational institutions in the State. It
grew rapidly in favor, and soon outnumbered the schools of the

^T. 16.] A UTOBIOGRAPHY. 13

had already attended its courses in chemistry, given
by Professor James Hadley (father of Professor
James Hadley of Yale College, then a lad), my earli-
est scientific adviser and most excellent friend. I had
a passion for mineralogy in those days, as well as for
chemistry. The spring and summer of 1827 I passed
in the office of one of the village doctors of Sauquoit,
Dr. Priest, and on the opening of the autumn session re-
turned to the medical school at Fairfield. That year,

large cities. In 1820 the school had one hundred students, and in-
creased to two hundred and seventeen later, and was the largest med-
ical school in the country, except the one at Philadelphia. After the
Albany and Geneva medical schools were established, it was seen
there was no need of three so near together, and Fairfield Medical
College was discontinued in 1840. In the list of graduates of Fairfield
Academy were Albert Barnes, the noted expositor, General Halleck,
of the United States Army, and James Hadley, professor of Greek at
Yale and the distinguished linguist. In the records of the academy
it is stated that " Asa Gray entered Fairfield Academy in the fall of
1825, and at the second weekly meeting joined the Calliopean Society
of the institute. His handwriting on the register is still preserved, as
well as all his doings as a boy while here, since he entered at an early
age, being in fact much younger than the majority of the students."
He graduated from the medical college January 25, 1831, in a class of
forty-four. His rank was seventeen in the class on graduation. The
subject of his thesis was " Gastritis."

Two old catalogues are preserved at Fairfield. In the first there
is the programme of studies at the academy for the year 1826 ; the
other, dating January, 1832, contains a list of the professors of the
medical college, the cost of instruction, and the outlines of two courses
of lectures. One of them was given by Dr. Mather, who was a fel-
low-student of Asa Gray's, and who still, at over eighty, retains a
lively recollection of the eager, active young man whom his friends
already thought would make his mark in the world ; the other by Dr.
Gray himself. This was one of the first courses of lectures which he
delivered. The ticket-fee was four dollars. He kept through life a
certain love for medicine and surgery, and a lively interest in its sci-
ence and progress. These old studies and the country practice he
had with the physician who was always his good friend, Dr. Trow-
bridge, often served him on his journeys, when a regular practitioner
was not within easy reach.

14 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [1828,

in the course of the winter, I picked up and read the
article "Botany" in Brewster's "Edinburgh Encyclo-
paedia," a poor thing, no doubt, but it interested me
much. I bought Eaton's " Manual of Botany," 1 pored
over its pages, and waited for spring. Before the
spring opened, the short college session being over, I
became a medical student, after the country fashion,
in the office of Dr. John F. Trowbridge of Bridge-
water, Oneida County, nine miles south of my pater-
nal home ; continued there for three years, except
during the college sessions, where I attended four
annual courses before taking my degree of M. D. at
the close of the session of 1829-30.2 The fact will ap-
pear, which I did not reveal at the time, that I took this
degree six or seven months (I passed my examination,
indeed, eight or nine months) before I had attained
the legal age of twenty-one. But I looked older, and
was in fact such an old stager in the school that no
one thought of asking if I was of age. That degree
gives me my place high enough on the Harvard Uni-
versity list to entitle me to a free dinner at Com-
mencement.

I have mentioned my interest in botany as begin-
ning in the winter and out of all reach either of a
greenhouse or of a potted plant. But in the spring,
I think that of 1828, 1 sallied forth one April day into
the bare woods, found an early specimen of a plant in
flower, peeping through dead leaves, brought it home,
and with Eaton's " Manual " without much difficulty
I ran it down to its name, Claytonia Virginica.

1 Amos Eaton, 1776-1842. Graduated from Williams in 1799.
Teacher, lecturer, and author of Manual of the Botany of North Amer-
ica, as well as of many reports on geological surveys.

2 College catalogue of Fairfield, 1830-31.

JET. 17.] AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 15

(It was really C. Caroliniana, but the two were
not distinguished in that book.) I was well pleased,
and went on, collecting and examining all the flowers
I could lay hands on ; and the rides over the country
to visit patients along with my preceptor, Dr. Trow-
bridge, gave good opportunities. I began an herba-
rium of shockingly bad specimens. In autumn, going
back to Fairfield for the annual course of medical lec-
tures, I took specimens of those plants that puzzled me
to Professor Hadley, who had learned some botany of
Dr. Ives of New Haven, and had made a neat herba-
rium of the common New England and New York
plants, which I studied carefully that winter. At
Professor Hadley's suggestion I opened a correspond-
ence with Dr. Lewis C. Beck of Albany,1 who was
the botanist of the region. The next summer I col-
lected more easily and critically. The summer after,
I think, or probably the summer of 1830, I had an
opportunity to make a little run to New York, being
sent by Dr. Trowbridge to buy some medical books,
driving in a one-horse wagon, with my own horse,
ninety miles to Albany, thence by steamer to New York
over night ; one night there, and back next day by
boat to Albany, and so driving back to Bridgewater
in company with a man of business who joined me in
this little expedition. I stopped to see Lewis C. Beok
at Albany Academy ; there I first saw a grave-look-
ing man who I was told was Professor Henry, who
had just been making a wonderful electro-magnet. I
had procured from Professor Hadley a letter of in-
troduction to Dr. Torrey, whose " Flora of the North-
ern United States," vol. i., was our greatest help so

1 Lewis C. Beck, 1798-1853 ; professor in Albany Academy ; author
of Botany of the United States North of Virginia.

16 A UTOBIOGRAPHY. [1830,

far as it went, and which on that journey I bought
a copy of. I took also a parcel of plants to be named.
Finding my way to Dr. Torrey's house in Charlton
Street with my parcel and letter, I had the disap-
pointment of finding that he was away at Williams-
town, Massachusetts, for the summer. It was not
until the next winter that at Fairfield I received a
letter from Dr. Torrey, naming my plants, and invit-
ing the correspondence which continued thence to the
end of his life.

In addition to Dr. Hadley's summer course of lec-
tures on chemistry, Dr. Lewis C. Beck used to come
and deliver a short course of lectures on botany. He
gave this up the year in which I received my M. D.,
so Professor Hadley invited me to come and give the
course instead. The course was given in five or six
weeks, beginning in the latter part of May. I pre-
pared myself during the winter, gave this my first
course of lectures, cleared forty dollars by the opera-
tion, and devoted it to the making of a tour to the
western part of the State of New York, as far as
Niagara Falls, Buffalo, and Aurora, — a dozen or
more miles off, — where I visited an uncle, my mo-
ther's brother, a well-to-do country merchant, also a
chum, Dr. Folwell, in Seneca County, high up between
the two lakes, where I passed a week or two ; thence
to Ithaca, and across the country by a stage-coach
back to Bridgewater. I hardly know what I did the
next autumn and winter, but in early spring a Mr.
Edgerton, a pupil of Amos Eaton, at Troy, the pro-
fessor of natural sciences at the flourishing school of
Mr. Bartlett at Utica, died. I applied for the va-
cancy, received the appointment, and for two or part
of three years, minus a long summer vacation, I

JET. 19.] A UTOBIOGRAPHY. 17

taught chemistry, geology, mineralogy, and botany, to
boys, making with the boys very pleasant botanical
excursions through the country round. My first sum-
mer vacation, if I rightly remember, was in cholera
year, the disease being very fatal in Utica. About
the time it made its appearance in New York I
started off from Bridgewater, taking a little country
stage-coach down the Unadilla to Pennsylvania ; vis-
ited Carbondale and made a collection of calamites
and fossil ferns ; thence by stage-coach through the
Wind Gap to Easton ; thence out to Bethlehem, where
I passed a day with old Bishop Schweinitz,1 gave
him a Carex which he said was new, but I told him it
was Carex livida, Wahl. (and I was right) ; back to
Easton ; thence up to Sussex County, N. J., collect-
ing minerals (Franklinite, etc.) ; thence to adjacent
Orange County, N. Y., collecting spinelles, etc., as
well as botanizing ; thence down to New York early
in September; there I met Dr. Torrey for the first
time, and we took a little expedition together down
to Tom's River in the pine barrens, and back to New
York in a wood-sloop.

The next year, in the spring, Dr. Torrey went to
Europe, sent to purchase apparatus for the New York
City University, then just established. He engaged
me to go that summer to collect plants in the pine
barrens of New Jersey, he to take the half of my col-
lection, paying what would be required to defray my
very moderate expenses in the field. I found after-
wards that these plants went to B. D. Greene and
his brother Copley, then abroad and full of botany ;

1 Lewis David Schweinitz, 1780-1834 ; the first American who
studied and described the fungi of the United States. He wrote also
on other North American cryptogams and carices.

18 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [1834,

and I have encountered them, i. e., the specimens,
in various places, especially in Herb. De Candolle,
as " Coll. Greene." I got down, I hardly now know
how, to Tuckerton on the Jersey coast, botanized at
Little Egg Harbor, Wading River, Quaker Bridge,
and Atsion. While at Quaker Bridge my loneliness
was cheered by the appearance of a fine-looking man,
who came in a chaise, looking after some particular
insect. It proved to be Major Le Conte.1

The next winter at Bartlett's school. In the spring
went north to Watertown ; visited Dr. Crawe, bota-
nized on Black River, made mineralogical excursions,
and back to Utica via Sackett's Harbor (lake to Os-
wego, and canal to Utica). After the spring term of
school there — I think it was that year, but am uncer-
tain— I took through the summer Professor Hadley's
place at Hamilton College, Clinton ; gave for him a
course of instruction in botany and mineralogy. This,
I have reason to think, was a ruse of my good friend,
who wished me to succeed to that professorship, which
he was on the point of resigning. Fortunately, Charles
Avery, my old academic preceptor, became a candi-
date and secured the election.

These years are a good deal mixed up, and I cannot
settle their dates nor the order of events. Only I
know that the next autumn I got a furlough from the
school until toward the end of winter, that I might
accept Dr. Torrey's invitation to be his assistant dur-
ing his course of chemical lectures in the Medical
School, and at his house in the herbarium, living with

1 John E. Le Conte, 1784-1860 ; formerly major in United States
army. His first botanical publication was a catalogue of the plants
on the island of New York, in 1810. He later wrote chiefly on ento-
mology.

MT. 23.] A UTOBIOGRAPHY. 19

him, and receiving eighty dollars as pay. This I can
fix as the winter of 1833-34 or 1834-35. The first
century of my " North American Graminese and Cype-
racese " was got out that winter, and it bears the date
of 1834.1 In February or March I went up by stage-
coach from New York to Albany, thence to Bridge-
water, and so to Utica, to do my work at Bartlett's
school. That finished, made a second trip to the
northeast part of the State, collecting in botany and
mineralogy with Dr. Crawe, extending the tour to St.
Lawrence County, where we found fine fluor-spar and
great but rough crystals of phosphate of lime, idio-
crase, etc. I wrote some account of these for the
" American Journal of Science," the earliest of my
many contributions to that journal. Returning to-
ward autumn to Bridgewater, I there received a letter
from Dr. Torrey, informing me that the prospects of
the Medical College were so poor that he could not
longer afford to have my services as assistant. Bart-
lett's school I had resigned from on account of my
prospects in New York. And, in fact, the school was
then going down, and he [Bartlett] was transferred
soon after to Poughkeepsie, where he flourished anew
for a time. I was in a rather bad way. But I deter-
mined to go to New York, assisted Dr. Torrey as I
could, got out the second part of my " North American
Graminese and Cyperaceae." I am not sure whether I
was in Dr. Torrey's family or not, or for only a part
of the winter. But in the spring of 1835, I went up
to my father's house for the summer, with some books,

1 It appears that in December, 1834, I read to the Lyceum of Nat-
ural History my first paper, Monograph of North American Rht/n-
chosporce, and my second, New or Rare Plants of the State of New
York. They must have been printed early in 1835. — A. G.

20 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [1836,

among them a copy of De Candolle's "Organogra-
phie " and " Theorie Ele*mentaire." These or at least
the former came from Professor Lehmann,1 of Ham-
burg, with whom for a year or two I had corresponded
and exchanged plants, or received books in exchange
for plants. I had made a still earlier exchange with
Soleirol, a French army surgeon, who had collected
in Corsica. While at home I blocked out and partly
wrote my " Elements of Botany." He turned to New
York in the autumn ; went into cheap lodgings, ar-
ranged with Carvill & Company to take my book. I
think they gave one hundred and fifty dollars, which
was a great sum for me. We got it through the press
that winter. John Carey had then come down to New
York, and was a great help to me in proof-reading, and
the little book was published in April or May, 1836.

I think it was in the autumn of 1836 that the Ly-
ceum of Natural History, New York, having with a
great effort erected their hall, on Broadway just below
Prince Street, I was appointed curator ; had a room
for my use, some light pay, proportioned to light
duties, and this was my home for a year or two.
There I wrote my papers, " Remarks on the Structure
and Affinities of the Ceratophyllacea3 " (which dates
February 20, 1837), — not a very wise production, and
some of the observations are incorrect ; also the better
paper, really rather good, " Melanthacearum Ameri-
cse Septentrionalis Revisio," published in 1837.

Dr. Torrey had planned the " Flora of North Amer-
ica," but had not made much solid progress in it. I,
having time on my hands, took hold to work up in a
preliminary way some of the earlier orders for his
use. This was to pass the time for a while, for in the
1 J. G. C. Lehmann, 1793-1860 ; professor at Hamburg.

*:T. 25.] A UTOBIOGRAPH Y. 21

summer of 1836 I was appointed botanist to a great
South Pacific exploring expedition, which met with
all manner of delays in fitting out, changes in com-
manders, etc., until finally, in the spring of 1838,
Lieutenant Wilkes was appointed to the command,
the number and size of the vessels cut down, and the
scientific corps more or less diminished. The assis-
tant botanist, William Rich, an appointment of the
Secretary of the Navy, was to be left out. I resigned
in his favor, having been about that time appointed
professor of natural history in the newly chartered
University of Michigan. As I had thus far done
fully half the work, Dr. Torrey invited me to be joint
author in " Flora of North America." The first part
was printed and issued in July, the second in October,
1838, at our joint expense, my share being contributed
from the pay I had been receiving while waiting
orders as botanist of the exploring expedition.

By this time we had come to see that we did not
know enough of the original sources to work up the
North American flora properly, and as Dr. Torrey
could not get away from home, I was determined
to get abroad and consult some of the principal
herbaria. On being appointed professor in the Uni-
versity of Michigan, which had as yet no buildings, I
made it understood that I must have a year abroad.
The trustees of the university in this view gave me,
in the autumn of 1838, a year's leave of absence, a
salary for that year of fifteen hundred dollars, and put
into my hands five thousand dollars with which to lay a
foundation for their general library. I sailed early in
November, 1838, in the packet-ship Philadelphia, for
Liverpool ; went direct from Liverpool to Glasgow ;
was guest of Dr. William J. Hooker till Christmas —

22 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [1839,

his son, Joseph D. Hooker, was then a medical stu-
dent ; went to Arlary, December 26-7, to visit Arnott ;
stayed till the day after New Year ; thence to Edin-
burgh for two or three days. Greville was the best
botanist, but Graham was the professor, Balfour then
a young botanist there. Heard old Monro, Wilson
(Christopher North), Chalmers, Traill, Charles Bell,
etc., lecture. On way south stopped at Melrose and
Abbotsford ; coach to Newcastle, Durham (over
Sunday), and through Manchester, where rail was
taken, to Birmingham and London. Took lodgings
till some time in March. Dr. Boott was of course my
best friend there. But Hooker and Joseph came up
to London for a week. Hooker insisted on taking me
in hand as of his party, and so I was introduced to all
his friends ; took me to the Royal Society, etc. ; dined
one day with Bentham, to whose house I often went,
and who gave me a full supply of letters to the bota-
nists on the Continent. I worked a good deal at the
British Museum ; Robert Brown was very kind to me,
and his assistant, J. J. Bennett, very useful, putting
me up to all the old collections and how to consult
them. At Linnaean Society, thanks to Boott, had every
facility for the Linnsean herbarium. Old Lambert
too ; he had the Hookers and myself at dinner, and
gave me as good opportunity as he could to consult the
Pursh plants, etc., in his herbarium, which, not long
after, was scattered, but it was in his dining-room,
which was very much lumbered, and to be reached
only at certain hours. Lindley had me down for a
day to his house at Turnham Green, and a little din-
ner at the close. First visited Kew with the Hookers ;
called on Francis Bauer, who lived in a house near
the river ; found him at ninety making beautiful micro-

JET. 28.] AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 23

scopic drawings to illustrate the genera of ferns; and
Hooker then arranged for their publication in the
well-known volume for which he furnished the text.
Saw not rarely N. B. Ward, who lived at Wellclose
Square in Wapping, and whose cultivation of plants
in closed cases attracted much attention. Went with
Ward one day to dine with Menzies, then over ninety ;
he lived, with a housekeeper, at Maida Vale, or some-
where beyond Kensington.

George P. Putnam, of the firm of Wiley & Put-
nam, was then resident in London, and through him
I managed the expenditure of the money placed in my
hands for the purchase of books for the University of
Michigan, in a manner that proved satisfactory.

There is still in my possession, but not in reach for
ready reference, a file of letters which I wrote home to
the Torrey family while I was in Europe. If I were to
find them and refresh guy memory by them, I should
make these notes quite too long. I will therefore
trust to memory and touch lightly here and there on
my Continental journey. I think it was early in
March, 1839, that one morning I took passage on a
small steamer from London, Bentham coming to see
me off, to Calais; thence diligence for Paris. My
lodgings, near the Luxembourg, were not far from the
house of P. Barker Webb, to whom I had introduc-
tions, and who was very useful to me ; he owned the
herbarium of Desfontaines. At the Jardin des Plantes
were old Mirbel, who occupied himself only with
vegetable anatomy, Adrien Jussieu, with whom I cor-
responded as long as he lived, Brongniart, Decaisne,
then aide-naturaliste, and Spach, curator of the her-
barium. Jussieu had his father's herbarium in his
study. Besides Michaux's herbarium at the Jardin

24 A UTOBIOGRAPHY. [1839,

des Plantes, I had also to consult, for a few things,
the set taken by the actual writer of the "Flora,"
L. C. Richard. This I found at the house of his son
Achille Richard, botanical professor in the Medical
School, living in the Medical Botanic Garden, then
occupying a piece of the Luxembourg grounds. The
other French botanists I recall were Dr. Montagne,
the cryptogamist, a pleasant man, Gaudichaud, whom
I saw little of, Auguste St. Hilaire, who I think spent
only the winter in Paris. I had an introduction to
Benjamin Delessert, who lived in fine style in a hotel
in the Rue Montmartre. Lasegue, the librarian, acted
as curator to the herbarium (Guillemin had died not
long before), which I found occasion to consult only
once. I should not forget Jacques Gay, with his
large herbarium very rich in European plants. I never
dreamed then that so many of them would find their
way into our own herbarium. / He lived close to the
Luxembourg Palace, then the palace of the House of
Peers. Gay was the secretary of the Marquis de Se-
monville, who was a high official there, and so lived near
by. He held a weekly reception for botanists, etc.,
and was a good soul. It was at the herbarium of the
Jardin des Plantes that I first made the acquaintance
of a botanist of about my own age, Edmond Boissier
of Geneva, who was studying some of the plants of
his collections in Granada and other parts of Spain,
soon after brought out in his work on the " Flora of
Granada," etc.

I left Paris in early spring, by malle-poste to Lyons ;
passed a day with Seringe ; steamer to Avignon, dili-
gence to Nimes, and thence to Montpellier, where I
passed two or three days. Delile and Dunal were the
professors ; saw Bentham's mother and sister, then

MT. 28.] AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 25

resident there. Diligence to Marseilles, steamer to
Genoa, Leghorn, a day at each ; to Civita Vecchia ; a
carriage to Rome, along with an English clergyman ;
thence back same way to Leghorn, Pisa, Florence.
Vetturino to Bologna, Ferrara, Padua (Visiani at the
garden), Venice ; then steamer to Trieste ; a day with
Biasoletto, including a botanical excursion, and Tom-
masini. Fell in there with a young artist of New
York, whose name I have forgotten. We took places
in the malle-poste together to Vienna, but went on
two days ahead to Adelsberg ; visited the grotto on a
fete day when it was all lighted, and all the country
people there in gala trim ; that night went on by
malle-poste. At Vienna, Endlicher, and his assistant
Fenzl, but the latter laid up with lame knee. Never
saw him afterward, but we had a long correspondence.
Steamer up the Danube to Linz, tramway, etc., to
the Gmunden See, and so to Ischl ; climbed the Zei-
mitz, all alone, picked my first Alpine flowers; trav-
eled over night to Salzburg, then to Munich; fine
times with Martius and Zuccarini, joined the celebra-
tion out in the country of Linna3us' birthday, — but
not the 24th May ; I think two or three weeks later.
From Munich to Lindau on Lake Constance ; thence
to Zurich; up the lake to Horgen; walked over to
Art ; walked up the Rigi ; descended the Rigi to take
the boat up the lake, missed it, got a man to put me
across in Canton Unterwalden ; walked to Stanz, slept,
walked next morning to Engelberg, and then over the
[Joch?] Pass, and down to Meyringen ; next day to
Interlaken and the Staubbach, next over the Wengern
Alp to Grindelwald, next over the Grand Scheideck
to valley of Hassli, up to the Grimsel, passed a Sun-
day in the snow ; walked down to the Rhone glacier

26 A UTOBIOGRAPHY. [1841,

and down to Brieg ; thence partly on foot, partly
char-a-banc, to Martigny ; made excursion to the Col
de Balme to get a good view of Mont Blanc ; back to
Martigny, down to Villeneuve, and steamer to Geneva.
I reached there, I think, July 4 ; worked there ten
days or so, very sharp ; De Candolle, father and son,
and Renter 1 the curator ; saw again Boissier. Leav-
ing boat at Lausanne, diligence to Freiburg, Berne,
Bale. Got across country, I hardly remember how, to
Tiibingen, Stuttgart, Heidelberg, Frankfort ; thence
to Leipzig ; made excursion to Dresden, then to Halle,
where was Schlechtendal, and where I looked over
old Schkuhr's originals of his Carex plates ; thence
through Wittenberg to Potsdam and Berlin ; worked
diligently a week in herbarium. Willdenow, Klotzsch
the curator ; saw old Link, Kunth, and Ehrenberg.
Diligence to Hamburg, where was Lehmann, one of
my very earliest correspondents. Steamer from Ham-
burg to London, late in September. Toward the middle
of October went to Portsmouth, and came back to
New York in a London packet-ship. Steamers were
then only just beginning to make regular trips.

Returning, Michigan University was quite ready
to give me a furlough of a year or two, without pay ;
took hold sharp of " Flora of North America," and in
beginning of next summer (June, 1840) we issued
the parts 3 and 4 of vol. i. Then went at the " Com-
posite ; " was interrupted a while in summer of 1841,
when I went with John Carey, and James Constable
for a part of the time, on a botanical trip up the Val-
ley of Virginia to the mountains of North Carolina,
getting as far as to Grandfather and Roan.

1 George Francis Renter, 1815-1873; director of the Botanical
Garden at Geneva; curator of Boissier 's herbarium.

^T. 30.] AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 27

It was, I think, in the spring of 1841 that the first
part of the " Composite " was published, i. e., vol. ii.
pp. 1-184 ; the second part, to p. 400, was out the
next spring. Sometime in January, 1842, I made a
visit of two or three days to B. D. Greene in Boston ;
the first time I ever saw Boston. Came out one day
to Cambridge, dined with his father-in-law, President
Quincy ; the company to meet us was Professor Chan-
ning 1 and Professor Treadwell.2 Sometime in April,
I received a letter from President Quincy, telling me
that the Corporation of the university would elect me
Fisher professor of natural history if I would before-
hand signify my acceptance. The endowment then
yielded fifteen hundred dollars a year. I was to have
a thousand and allow the rest to accumulate for a
while. Meanwhile I was to give only a course of botani-
cal lectures, in the second spring term, and look after
the Garden. But more work was soon added. I came
in July, in the midst of vacation, before Commence-
ment, which was then in September ; got lodgings, with
room for my then small herbarium, in the house of
Deacon Munroe. Went late in September on an excur-
sion to Mount Washington, by way of the Notch, along
with Tuckerman, then living at his father's in Boston.
Worked away at " Compositse," and in the winter
went to New York and carried the remainder through
the press. It was issued in February, 1843.

I must not forget that my little " Elements of Bot-
any" had been sold out, and the publishers, Carvill, had
gone out of business or died. I prepared in 1841-42

1 Edward T. Channing ; professor of rhetoric and oratory at Har-
vard University.

2 Daniel Treadwell ; professor in Harvard University of applied
physics ; distinguished inventor in mechanics, especially in the weld-
ing of steel.

28 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [1843.

the first edition of my " Botanical Text-Book ; " it was
in the course of printing when I was appointed to the
Fisher professorship, so that I could put that title on
the title-page, and have a text-book for my class.

My first session of college work was over about
July 1, 1843. The treasurer, Mr. Samuel Eliot, had
given me leave to spend a small sum in replenishing
the Botanic Garden. I met my friend and corre-
spondent, William S. Sullivant, who had taken strongly
to mosses, early in August, on the Alleghanies beyond
Frostburg, Maryland (the railroad went only to Cum-
berland), he coming from Columbus, Ohio, I from
Cambridge. There we bought a span of horses and
a strong country wagon, and set out on the mountain
expedition, some sketch of which is given in the
" American Journal of Science " for January, 1846.
(The first journey is more particularly detailed in
the " American Journal of Science," xlii., no. 1 ;
1842 ?) When Sullivant left me, at Warm Springs
on the French Broad, anxious to get home, I was left
in a pretty lonely condition.

CHAPTER II.

EARLY UNDERTAKINGS.

1831-1838.

DR. GRAY'S autobiographical fragment closes ab-
ruptly, and is valuable chiefly for the glimpse which
it gives of his ancestry and his boyhood. He kept
no diary, but he carried on a voluminous correspond-
ence, and his letters thus contain a record of his
hard-working, eager life. The earliest tell of the
struggle for position, his doubts if his loved science
could furnish him a maintenance, and his resolution
to make any sacrifice if he could devote himself to
its study. His wants outside of appliances for scien-
tific investigation were few, and he had a hopeful
temper. He said in later life that when he was ready
for anything it always came to him, and he never
dwelt upon the hardships of his early years ; indeed,
he forgot them.

After leaving Fairfield Medical College he divided
his years between teaching in Bartlett's school in
Utica (some of his old pupils still recall his field
excursions with his class, and 'his eager delight in
the search after plants), in journeys botanical and
mineralogical, and in some shorter and longer stays
in New York, where for a good portion of the time
he was a member of Dr. John Torrey's family. Dr.
Torrey was a keen observer, a lively suggester of new

30 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1831,

theories and explanations, most eminently truthful in
all inquiries, and a devout Christian. Mrs. Torrey
was a woman of rare character, refined, of intellectual
tastes and cultivation, great independence, extremely
benevolent, and with a capacity for government and
control. She was devotedly religious, not only for her-
self and her own household, but for all who could
possibly come within her influence. It was a new ex-
perience to the country-bred young man, and she saw
in him many capabilities of which he was as yet himself
unconscious. He always said that in his development
he owed much to her in many ways. She criticised
and improved his manners, his tastes, his habits, and
especially, together with Dr. Torrey, exercised a strong
influence on his religious life. His parents and
family were conscientious, good and faithful church
members. But they were not people who talked much,
and indeed had little direct oversight of their son
after he was fourteen years old, when he left home.
He never returned to the family roof after that for
more than a few months at a time, and his youthf id
surroundings away from home were of very varied
influence ; some of them, though never vicious, were
of a decidedly irreligious character. When he en-
tered the Torrey family, the difference in the life, the
contrast in the way of meeting trials and sorrows
struck him forcibly, and the religious side of his
nature was roused, a serious interest awakened, which
from that time on made always a strong and perma-
nent part of his character.

Dr. Torrey saw the ability of the young student,
and writing to his friend, Professor Henry, in Feb-
ruary, 1835, to see if a place could not be found for
him at Princeton, says : —

JET. 21.] EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. 31

" I wish we could find a place for my friend Gray
in the college. . . . He has no superior in botany,
considering his age, and any subject that he takes
up he handles in a masterly manner. . . . He is an
uncommonly fine fellow, and will make a great noise
in the scientific world one of these days. It is good
policy for the college to secure the services and affec-
tions of young men of talent, and let them grow up
with the institution. . . . He would do great credit
to the college ; and he will be continually publish-
ing. He has just prepared for publication in the
Annals of the Lyceum two capital botanical papers.
. . . Gray has a capital herbarium and collection
of minerals. He understands most of the branches
of natural history well, and in botany he has few
superiors."

His friend, Mr. John H. Eedfield,1 recalling him in
those early days, writes : —

" He had worked with Dr. Torrey in his herbarium
in 1834 and in 1835, and in 1834 read his first paper
before the Lyceum, a monograph of the North Amer-
ican Rhynchosporae, which is still the best help we
have for the study of that genus. His bachelor
quarters were in the upper story of the building, and
there he diligently employed the hours not occupied
with other duties in studies and dissections, the re-
sults of which appeared in several elaborate contribu-
tions to the Annals. Dr. Gray's residence in the
building and his position as librarian brought him
into frequent and pleasant intercourse with the mem-
bers of the Lyceum, and in this way began my own
acquaintance with him. The interest which he always

1 John H. Redfield ; curator of the herbarium of the botanical de-
partment of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Science.

32 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1835,

manifested in making easy the openings to the paths
of knowledge for the younger men impressed me
greatly. In describing his manner I should use
neither the terms ' imperious ' or ' impetuous,' but
enthusiastic eagerness would better express its char-
acteristic. He had even then something of that hesi-
tancy of speech which he sometimes manifested in
later years, a hesitancy which seemed to arise from
thoughts which crowded faster than words could be
found for them, and I associate his manner of speak-
ing then with a slight swing of the head from side to
side, which my recollections of his later manner do not
recall. In person he was unusually attractive, his
face, bright, animated and expressive, lit up by eyes
beaming with intellect and kindness."

Dr. Gray began in 1834 his contributions to the
" American Journal of Science." His first paper,
printed in May, was " A Sketch of the Mineralogy
of a Portion of Jefferson and St. Lawrence Counties,
N. Y., by J. B. Crawe of Watertown, and A. Gray of
Utica, N. Y.," 1 and from that time until his death he
was a constant contributor of original articles, reviews,
and notices of all botanists whose deaths occurred
within his knowledge, leaving an unfinished necrology
on his desk.

In 1835 his first text-book was written, " Elements
of Botany," and he returned to the same title for his
last text-book in 1887. He spent a summer at his
Sauquoit home at work upon it ; and he once gave a
lively account of the warm and noisy discussions
which he held with his friend John Carey over style
and expressions when he was reading the proofs in
his boarding-house in New York, to the great interest

1 American Jour. Sci., xxv. 346-350.

JET. 25.] TO JOHN TORREY. 33

of all within hearing. He admitted that it was one
of the best lessons in the art of writing he ever had.

Dr. Gray, writing for the " New York World " an
obituary notice of John Carey, on his death in 1880,
says of him, after a short sketch of his life : —

" Mr. Carey was a man of marked gifts, accom-
plishments, and individuality. His name will long be
remembered in American botany. There are few of
his contemporaries in this country who have done
more for it than he, although he took little part in
independent publication. His critical knowledge and
taste and his keen insight were most useful to me in
my earlier days of botanical authorship. He wrote
several valuable articles for the journals, and when, in
1848, my 4 Manual of Botany ' was produced, he
contributed to it the two most difficult articles, that
on the willows and that on the sedges. . . .

" Being fondly attached to his memory, and almost
the last survivor of the notable scientific circle which
Mr. Carey adorned, I wish to pay this feeble tribute
to the memory of a worthy botanist and a most genial,
true-hearted, and good man."

It is to be regretted that Dr. Gray's letters to his
old friend are no longer in existence.

His correspondence with Sir William Jackson
Hooker, then professor at Glasgow, Scotland, began
in 1835.

TO JOHN TORREY.
BRIDGEWATEB, ONEIDA COUNTY, N. Y., January 1, 1831.

DEAR SIK, — I received your letter, through Pro-
fessor Hadley, a few weeks since, and I embrace the
earliest opportunity of transmitting a few specimens
of those plants of which you wished a further supply.

34 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1831,

I regret that the state of my herbarium will not ad-
mit of my sending as many specimens of each as I
could wish or as would be desirable to you. I shall
be able to obtain an additional supply of most of them
during the ensuing summer, when it will give me
pleasure to supply you with those, or any other inter-
esting plants which I may meet with. I send you a
few grasses, numbered ; also a few mosses, etc. When
you have leisure, you will oblige me by sending the
names of those numbered, and rectify any errors in
those labeled. If you should be desirous of additional
specimens, please let me know it, and I will supply
you in the course of next summer.

You ask me whether I am desirous of obtaining the
plants peculiar to New York, New Jersey, etc., or of
European plants. I should be highly gratified by re-
ceiving any plants you think proper to send me ; and
will repay you, so far as in my power, by transmitting
specimens of all the interesting plants I discover. I
know little of exotic botany, having no foreign speci-
mens. I am particularly attached to the study of the
grasses, ferns, etc. If you have any specimens to
transmit to me, please leave them with Mr. Franklin
Brown, Attorney at Law, Inns of Court, Beekman
Street, who will forward them to me by the earliest
opportunity.

During the next summer, I intend to visit the west-
ern part of this State, also Ohio and Michigan. I shall
devote a large portion of my time to the collection of
the plants of the places I visit. If you know of any
interesting localities, or where any interesting plants
could be procured, please inform me, and I will en-
deavor to obtain them for you.

Respectfully yours, ASA GRAY.

JET. 20.] TO JOHN TORRE Y. 35

BRIDGEWATER, April 6, 1832.

Having a convenient opportunity of sending to you,
I improve it to acknowledge the receipt of your letter
of October 6, and of the very interesting and valua-
ble package of plants which was duly received a few
weeks afterwards. In the course of the ensuing sum-
mer, I shall be able to supply you with an additional
supply of most of the plants mentioned in your list.
Many of these were collected during an excursion to
the western part of the State, and are not found in this
section of the country.

I have given a copy of this list to my friend Dr. N.
W. Folwell of Seneca County, an industrious collec-
tor, who is situated in a section rich in plants, and
requested him to transmit specimens of these and other
interesting plants to you. I think he will be able to
furnish you with many interesting plants from that
section of country, and I shall be grateful for any
favors you may have in your power to confer upon
him. I shall be engaged the ensuing summer at Fair-
field arid at Salina, where I hope to make some in-
teresting collections in natural history. If it is not
too much trouble and the specimen is within your
reach, may I ask further information with regard to
No. 34, in my last package to you. It is a Carex,
from the shore of Lake Erie, — growing with C. lu-
pulina but flowering later. Is it not a var. of C.
lupulina ? from which it appears to differ principally
in its pedunculate spikes ? It flowers a month later
than C. lupulina (August 6).

Will you excuse me for troubling you on another
subject ? I shall not be able to remain much longer
in this place, unless I engage in the practice of medi-
cine under circumstances which will altogether pre-

36 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1832,

elude me from paying any further attention to nat-
ural history. My friends advise me to spend a few
years in a milder climate, our family being predis-
posed to phthisis, although I am perfectly healthy
and robust ; and such a course would be very agree-
able to me, as I could combine the study of natural
history with the professional business which will be
necessary for my support. I have thought of the
Southern States, but I have for some time been in-
clined to prefer Mexico, both on account of the salu-
brity of its climate, and of its botanical and minera-
logical riches, which so far as I know have never
been very thoroughly explored. My object in trou-
bling you with all this is merely to obtain some infor-
mation with regard to the natural history of that
country. Has the country been explored by any
botanist since Humboldt in 1803 ? And is there still
room enough in that branch to repay one for devoting
a few years to its investigations ?

I am young (twenty-one), without any engagements
to confine me to this section of country, and prefer the
study of botany to anything else. Although I have
not arrived at any positive determination, I have com-
menced the study of the Spanish language, and find it
(with the aid of Latin and French) quite easy. I
should be pleased to have your advice on this subject,
as you have many sources of information which are
beyond my reach. I should be highly gratified if you
would state to me what you think of the prospects in
Mexico for a person under my circumstances, and
whether any other section of country or any other
situation presents greater inducements. Under what-
ever circumstances I may be placed, it will be grati-
fying to me to continue a correspondence which has,

^T. 21.] TO JOHN TORREY. 37

thus far, been so useful to me, and I shall always wish
to do all in my power to render it interesting to you.
I shall be ready to leave this place by 1st of Septem-
ber next, at which time I shall probably visit New
York. Will you write me on this subject as soon as
convenient, and very much oblige,

Yours truly, A. GRAY.

P. S. There is within a circuit of some miles, and
at this place, a great variety of fossil organic remains,
and I am collecting them as extensively as possible.
We find trilobites (Asaphus, and occasionally Caly-
mene), a variety of bivalve and a few univalve shells,
etc., both in lime rock and greywacke. The cele-
brated locality of Trenton Falls you are of course
acquainted with. Would a suit of them be accepta-
ble to yourself, or the Lyceum of Natural History,
New York ? And can they be named, so that I can
label my collection from them ? There may few of
them be of any interest, but if you wish it you shall
have a suit containing specimens of all I find.

UTICA, January 2, 1833.

I received your letter of December 25, and have
given the subject of which you write a careful con-
sideration. I may say that I have no objection to the
situation you propose, if a proper arrangement can be
made.

The terms of my engagement here are these. This
situation became vacant by the death of Mr. Edgerton
in April last. I was recommended by some of my
friends, and finally made an arrangement for one year ;
took charge of a class in botany and mineralogy on
20th May; closed July 30. Have been at liberty

38 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1833,

until now ; have just commenced a chemical course,
to continue nine weeks, which will conclude my duties
for the year. The compensation is board, room, wash-
ing, fuel, and all other expenses of the kind, for the
whole year, or as much of the year as I choose to
remain here. All expenses of the laboratory are de-
frayed (which by the way are not likely to be heavy),
and in addition I receive $300. The advantages of
the situation are, leisure and the means of a comfort-
able support. The disadvantages, the school is not
incorporated and though now flourishing may not con-
tinue so, the scholars are too young, the principal
wishes to retain too much of the Eatonian plan to
suit me, and they have not furnished the means for
the chemical course which I had a right to expect.
No arrangement has been made for another year, but
I have reason to think I shall be requested to remain
another year. I am confident my leisure time would
be employed to greater advantage if I was situated so
as to have access to good libraries and extensive col-
lections.

At present I can be satisfied with a moderate in-
come, sufficient for a comfortable support, for the
purchase of a few books, etc. ; but that income
must be sure ; I cannot afford to run any risks about
it. I would willingly collect plants the whole sum-
mer, take on my hands the whole labor of preparing
and arranging them, but as the proceeds would be
absolutely necessary for my support, so they should
be certain. I am now advantageously situated for
the collection of plants, etc., as, if I choose, I can
travel every year with a class who will defray my ex-
penses.

If you still desire to make such arrangement, please

JET. 22.] TO JOHN TORREY. 39

to state more explicitly the duties you wish me to
perform ; how much time can be given to collecting
plants; what compensation you can afford me, sup-
posing nearly the whole summer is devoted to making
collections, and three fourths of the whole to belong
to you, — or propose any plan which would be satis-
factory to you, and I will let you know, very shortly r
whether I will accept it or not. I had rather leave it
to yourself than to make any definite proposition at
present. I am confident we can make an arrange-
ment which will be mutually beneficial.

I need not say that I wish to hear from you again
on this subject as soon as possible, as I must soon
make my arrangements for the ensuing season. How
large is the class at the Medical College? I have
just returned from a visit at Fairfield ; they have a
class of about 190. In haste,

Yours very respectfully, A. GRAY.

UTICA, January 23, 1833.

Excuse me for troubling you. I have this day re-
ceived from Dr. L. C. Beck a sheet of a work, now
publishing, entitled a " Flora of the Northern and
Middle States," arranged according to the natural
system. I have the sheet commencing the species;
commences with Ranunculaceae ; it is in 12mo.

As you mentioned that Beck has been very secret
in all his proceedings, it occurred to me that very pos-
sibly you have heard nothing of it, and I thought it
right to let you know. It appears to be after the
fashion of De Candolle's "Prodromus," condensed de-
scriptions and fine print. He still keeps his Ranun-
culus lacustris, and has added a new species to that
genus, which he calls R. Clintonii, from Rome, Oneida

40 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1833,

County, N. Y. ; the same as published in fifth edi-
tion Eaton's " Manual " under the name of R. pro-
stratus, Lamk. I have never seen their specimens,
but have little doubt it is a form of K. repens, which
flowers with us from April to September and assumes
many forms. Dr. Beck wishes me to send him any
undescribed or interesting plants, localities of rare
plants, etc. I feel somewhat interested in the work,
as I wish it to supersede Eaton's entirely. (I hear
Eaton is coming out with a new edition in the spring.
I see Beck means to anticipate him.) But all the
undescribed plants I have are in your hands, and it
would be improper to send him such at present. He
has in his hands an imperfect specimen of Nasturtium
natans, De Candolle, which I sent him two years ago.
He did not know it ; supposed it N. palustre, and I
do not know whether he has determined it or no. I
will tell him what it is. He has that Ophioglossum
and probably will publish it. If you please you can
publish this, that Scleria, etc., in Silliman, that is,
if you think them new. I will send none of these to
Beck, but will give him the localities of some of our
most interesting plants.

I have not heard from you since I wrote you on the
subject of your letter, but hope you will write me
soon. If we can make any arrangement for a year,
by its expiration you will know whether or not I
shall be of any use to you. I wish to be situated in
such a manner as will enable me to advance most rap-
idly in science, in botany especially.

I succeeded, some days ago, in making the chloro-
chromic acid of Dr. Thomson (of which you spoke to
me when at your house), with chromate of lead, in-
stead of bichromate of potash, which I was unable to

JET. 22.] TO JOHN TORREY. 41

obtain. It set alcohol, ether, spirits of turpentine,
etc., on fire. I did not try it upon phosphorus. Shall
prepare it again in a few weeks for class experiments.
I am, Sir, Yours respectfully,

A. GRAY.

UTICA, March 22, 1834.

I thankfully acknowledge the receipt of your letter
of the 1st iiist., and am delighted to learn that you
contemplate giving a course of botanical lectures be-
fore you leave the city. I hope the plan will succeed,
and that you will have a large and very fashionable
class. My journey was as tedious as rain and bad
roads could make it. The first night, being alone in
the coach, I was upset by the carelessness of a drunk-
en driver. The top of the coach, striking against a
stone wall, was broken in ; but I escaped, narrowly in-
deed, without any injury excepting a few rents in my
clothes. At the end of the route, I had the satisfac-
tion of seeing the driver dismissed from his employ-
ment. On my arrival at Bridge water I found a child
of my friend and former medical preceptor,1 a favorite
little daughter, dangerously, almost hopelessly sick
with inflammation of the brain. I was consequently
detained several days, and before I left had the satis-
faction of seeing the little patient convalescent. I
am now in fine working order and busily engaged in
my chemical course.

Dr. Hadley called upon me yesterday and I gave
him the little " notions " you sent by me. He
was much pleased, but was especially delighted with
the condensed sulphurous and anhydrous sulphuric
acids.

1 Dr. Trowbridge.

42 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1834,

The principal object of this letter is to consult you
in regard to some propositions made me by Professor
Hadley. Besides his situation in the Medical College,
you are aware that he holds the . professorship of
chemistry and natural science in Hamilton College.
He has just concluded his chemical course in that
institution, but in the early part of summer he lectures
to the senior class upon botany and mineralogy. As
they are about to make some alterations in the college
building at Fairfield, his presence will be required
there, and he wishes me to take his place for the ensu-
ing term at Hamilton College. I ought also to state
that Dr. H. accepted that situation with the intention
of holding it but a few years, until the college should
have surmounted the trouble in which it was (and is)
involved, and from which we have pretty good rea-
son to hope, from the exertions now being made, it
will soon be extricated, so that the professorships may
be properly endowed. He has given notice of his in-
tention to resign about a year hence ; by which time,
if ever, the college will be able to place several profes-
sorships upon a substantial foundation. Dr. H. has
expressed to me a strong desire that I should be con-
sidered a candidate for the place, and I strongly sus-
pect that to further that object is one reason for his
wishing me to act as his substitute during the ensuing
summer. My presence there would be necessary
from the 1st of June to the middle of July. Dr. H.
has been acting under a nominal salary of §500,
being engaged there but thirteen or fourteen weeks.
For the summer course I should receive $ 200. Dr. H.
insures me $100 immediately, even if he has to ad-
vance it himself, and the whole if funds are in the
hands of the treasurer; if not, the whole would be

^T. 23.] TO JOHN TORRE Y. 43

received quite certainly within the year. I have only
to say further that the college has now one hundred
students, is situated in a beautiful village nine miles
from Utica, has the best college buildings of any in
the State, has a good faculty, etc. I urged the prom-
ise I had made of the visit to Georgia, which this plan
would entirely frustrate, but promised to give him a
definite answer within a fortnight.

I can scarcely think of postponing my southern
tour for another season; but the question comes to
this, whether, in the present state of my finances, I
had better expend $100 in that visit or earn $200 in
the same time. I could also, I think, continue my
engagements here in July and August, by which a
little more of the trash might be pocketed, and return
to New York in time to make a September excursion
to the dearly beloved pine barrens of New Jersey, and
spend the early part of fall in botanical work, and
the winter in your laboratory. The term closes here
the 23d of April (a little earlier than I supposed) ; so
if the original plan is pursued I shall be in New York
by the 26th of that month. If not, I shall be disen-
gaged for a month, a portion of which I should like to
devote, with my friend Dr. Crawe, to the minerals
of St. Lawrence County. So rests the case. I told
Dr. H. that I should write immediately to you, and
be governed in a good degree by your answer.

I have such a dislike to the appearance of vacilla-
tion which results from changing one's plans when
fully formed, that were it not for certain ulterior ad-
vantages, and that I wish to comply with the wishes,
as far as may be, of a person to whom I am much
obliged, I should promptly decline Dr. Hadley's
offer.

44 * EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1834,

An idea just this moment strikes me which, in its
crude shape, I will communicate. In eight or ten
days I can get to the metals. Suppose I could then
get excused, and finish my course here next summer
in connection with mineralogy, which for these young-
sters would do pretty well; reach New York early
next month; set out immediately for Georgia, and
remain there until the latter part of May ; return via
Charleston ; examine Elliott's herbarium, and return
here by the first of June. I may be quite sure that
April and May would be healthy, but could there be
plants enough collected, especially Graminese, to make
it an object ? Please say what you think of it. If
you think it will do, I see no insuperable objection to
carrying it into effect.

A few days ago a letter reached me from Professor
Lehmann, in answer to my communication eighteen
months ago. He is quite desirous of continuing the
correspondence. He is now particularly engaged
with Hepaticae, and is anxious to obtain our species,
and especially original specimens of those described
by the late Mr. Schweinitz, etc. He has sent a box
(which by this time I hope has arrived in New York)
containing about five hundred species of plants and
several botanical books. He also writes that he has
applied to Nees von Esenbeck for dried specimens
of all the species of Aster cultivated in his garden
in order to transmit them with the monograph by
that author ; but not having arrived in time they
will be sent with his next package. I wish to be par-
ticularly remembered to Mrs. Torrey and to Mr.

Shaw, not forgetting my lively little friends J ,

E , and M , whom I very much long to see. I

had intended long before this to have written to Mr.

JET. 23.] TO JOHN TORREY. 45

Shaw, but have not yet had leisure. Please say to
him that I ain much obliged for the papers he has
been so good as to send me. I wish to know whether
he has yet apostatized from the anti-tea-drinking soci-
ety, of which Mr. S. and myself were ("par nobile
fratrum ") such promising members. Please say to
him that I have not yet drunk tea, but am doing pen-
ance upon coffee, milk, and water.

May I trouble you for the very earliest possible
answer to this, which will much oblige

Yours very respectfully, A. GRAY.

HAMILTON COLLEGE, June 9, 1834.

Your letter of the 13th ult., with the bundle of
books, was in due time received. Yours of the 2d
ult. was received at the same time. I can send
you no more copies of " Graminea3," l etc. ; all I
brought up are subscribed for and delivered. " Major
Downing," who subscribes for two copies (one for
himself and one for his friend the Gin'ral,2 I sup-
pose), as well as the other subscribers, must wait until
fall. I am lecturing here to a small but quite intelli-
gent Senior class, twenty-six in number, just enough to
fill three sides of a large table, and time passes very
pleasantly. The small fund for the support of this
institution will, I think, be secured, but the trustees

1 North American Graminece and Cyperacece, of which Part I. was
issued in 1834, Part II. in 1835. This was the first separate and
individual publication by Dr. Gray. Sir W. J. Hooker said of it : —
[It] "may fairly be classed among the most beautiful and useful
works of the kind that we are acquainted with. The specimens are
remarkably well selected, skillfully prepared, critically studied, and
carefully compared with those in the extensive and very authentic
herbarium of Dr. Torrey."

2 Alluding to the then popular squib of Major Jack Downing's
letters.

46 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1834,

do not act in concert with the faculty, and it is ru-
mored quarrel among themselves, so that, unless some
changes are effected in the board, I fear the college
will not be sustained. I shall remain here five weeks
longer, and then have a short engagement at Utica.
I have promised to make a visit to the north in Au-
gust. I wish very much that I was able to remain
there six or seven weeks, to examine with attention
the vegetation of the primitive region in St. Lawrence
and Franklin counties. I cannot doubt that the
mountains and the banks of the large streams of that
region would furnish a rich harvest of plants. That
range is an extension of one from the far north, which,
passing between the Great Lakes and Hudson's Bay,
crosses the St. Lawrence at the Thousand Islands,
and passes through St. Lawrence, Franklin, and
Clinton counties. Consequently many sub - alpine
plants, such as Anemone Hudsonica, Trisetum molle,
Geum triflorum, etc., are found in this region farther
south than elsewhere. The mineralogy of the region,
also, needs to be farther explored. The expense of
such a tour, divided between Dr. Crawe and myself,
traveling in a conveyance of our own, will be compar-
atively trifling.

I find, however, that further supplies of several
New Jersey grasses are absolutely required to enable
me to make out the necessary number of suits this
fall of the first part of my " Grasses." I see also by the
list before me that they (with few exceptions) are in
good state as late as the 8th or 10th of September, and
that they can all be obtained without proceeding far-
ther south than Tom's River ; so that I have no alter-
native but to hasten back to New York, and make a
flying trip to Tom's River (or Howel Works at least)

JET. 23.] TO HIS FA THER. 47

early in September. If you meet with Panicum
agrostoides, Poa obtusa Muhl., and Poa eragrostis, I
shall be much obliged if you will secure for me the
needful quantity of specimens. I am making arrange-
ments for securing the bulbs, tubers, and seeds of the
rarer plants for Lehmann. I shall take great pleasure
in complying with your desire of securing as many as
possible for your little garden. Bulbs and tubers I
take up after flowering, and place in dry sand. Can
you give some instructions as to the best manner of
preserving other perennial roots, such as Asters, etc. ?
If you will give me the necessary instructions, I
promise you to spare no exertions to carry them into
effect.

I have nearly finished De Candolle's " Theorie Ele-
mentaire." I have devoured it like a novel. It ought
to be translated, that it may be more generally read
in this country, where something of the kind is much
needed. By the way, as soon as you receive Lindley's
new elementary work, I hope you will set about pre-
paring an American edition.

This immediate neighborhood is very poor for bota-
nizing. Excepting Cyperacese, it furnishes nothing
of interest. I shall soon, however, make more distant
excursions, so as to include Oneida Lake and the
" pine plains." When I return I shall bring with
me a huge bundle of plants, which will show that I
have not been idle.

TO HIS FATHER.

November 21, 1834.

The class at the Medical College is very small, so
that I have no salary here at present. But I have a
comfortable and pleasant home, and fine opportunities

48 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1835,

for pursuing my favorite studies, and for acquiring a
reputation that must sooner or later secure me a good
place. I have work enough thrown into my hands to
support me, with my prudent habits, through the win-
ter. I spend my time entirely at the medical college
and at my home here at Dr. Torrey's, and hold little
intercourse with any except medical and scientific men.
I am writing two scientific articles on a difficult branch
of botany for a scientific journal or magazine, which
will give me a little notoriety. Dr. Torrey and my-
self went last month to Philadelphia, where we stayed
a week. We spent our time almost entirely in the
rooms of the American Philosophical Society, and of
the Academy of Science. We met most of the scien-
tific and other learned men, and spent our time very
pleasantly. You shall hear from me again before long.
It is not probable that I shall be up before next sum-
mer.

TO HIS MOTHER.

Saturday Morning, February 7, 1835.

I do not know when I shall see you. I shall be
up sometime during the spring or summer if I live
so long, but perhaps not until July or August. It is
very probable that I shall stay in the city the whole
time. I wish very much to spend a few weeks in
Georgia, early in the spring, but I see that I shall not
be able to do so. My time is spent here very profit-
ably, and I am advancing in knowledge as fast as I
ought to wish, but I make no money, or scarcely
enough to live upon. Just at present I am rather
behindhand, but think that by next fall I shall, with
ordinary success, be in better circumstances. It is
unpleasant to be embarrassed in such matters, for I
should like much to be independent, and this with my

^T. 24.] TO HIS FATHER. 49

moderate wishes would require no very large sum, and
I have 110 great desire to be rich.

Tell father I am very glad he has brought home the
remainder of those boxes from Utica. The burning
down of one of the buildings of the gymnasium has
broken up that school entirely, and it probably will
not be revived. I knew Mr. Bartlett would fail soon,
and that accident has only hastened the time a little.
He has been insolvent for some time. There was a
very severe fire within a few rods of us last week ;
five or six dwelling-houses and other buildings were
burned to the ground. Although it was so near us we
were sitting at tea entirely unconcerned. Everything
is done by the fire companies, and people who crowd
about fires are only in the way, without doing any
good.

Let me hear from you soon, and you will hear from
me again in due season. The lectures in the Medical
College will be finished in about three weeks, and
then I shall be a little more at leisure.

I am very affectionately yours,

A. GRAY.

TO HIS FATHER.

NEW YORK, April 6, 1835.

DEAR FATHER, — I have been waiting for some
time to see what my plans for the season would be,
expecting as soon as that point was determined to
write to you. All my arrangements were upset last
fall, and the prospects for daily bread have been rather
dark all winter — that is for the present ; for the
future they look as well as I could expect. It is
probable now that I shall remain here during the sum-
mer ; prosecuting the same studies and pursuits in

50 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1835,

which I am now engaged, unless something else turns
up in the mean time. . . .

Tell mother I have for her a copy of Barnes's
*' Notes on the Gospels," but I want to read it myself
before I send it up. Perhaps I can't spare it until I
come up. I think you will all be very much pleased
with it. I wish I could also send you his " Notes on
the Acts and Romans." Please ask Mr. Rogers, or
any of your merchants when they come to New York
this spring, to drop a line in the post-office for me,
that I may take the opportunity of sending home by
them. I wish I could come up this spring, but I see
that I shall not be able. Do you take a religious
newspaper ? Please write to me soon. May the Lord
prosper you and keep you all.

Yours truly and affectionately,

A. GRAY.

TO W. J. HOOKER.

NEW YORK, April 4, 1835.

DEAR SIR, — Your kind letter of December 11,
with the parcel of books you were so good as to send
me, were in due time received, for both of which I
beg you to accept my thanks. Perhaps you will do
me the favor to accept a copy of the second part of
the " North American Graminea3 and Cyperacea3,"
being a continuation of my attempt to illustrate our
species of these families, the plan of which, I am
gratified to learn, meets your approbation. I inclose
in the same parcel the loose sheets of an unpublished
portion of the third volume of the " Annals of the
New York Lyceum of Natural History," compris-
ing an attempt at a monography of the genus Rhyn-
chospora. A more perfect copy, with a copy of the

J5T.24.] TO JOHN TORREY. 51

engraving, now in the hands of the artist, will be
transmitted to you by the earliest opportunity. I
also send a little parcel of mosses, nearly all of which
were collected in the interior of the State of New
York. May I ask you to look them over at as early
an opportunity as may suit your convenience, and to
return to me the result of your determinations. I
do not venture to think that you will find among them
anything of especial interest. I very much regret
that I am at the present moment unable to forward
to you a half a dozen copies of the work of " Gra-
mineae and Cyperaceae," the number you so kindly
offer to take charge of. A few species are wanting to
complete further suits of the first volume, but these
I hope soon to obtain. Not to permit your kind offer
to pass wholly unimproved, I hereby transmit to you
three copies of vols. 1 and 2 which are at the disposal
of any of your botanical friends who may desire to
possess the work. If an additional number of copies
should be needed they can in a very short time be
furnished. With high respect, I remain, dear sir,
Yours truly, A. GRAY.

To WILLIAM JACKSON HOOKER, LL. D.,

Regius Professor of Botany in the University at Glasgow.

TO JOHN TORREY.

SAUQUOIT, N. Y., July 9, 1835.

I am progressing a little with my rather formidable
task; in fact I am making haste quite slowly, and
am now discussing the mysteries of exogenous and
endogenous stems. I have studied little this week,
for I found that close confinement was spoiling my
health, so I have been taking quite severe exercise
almost constantly, by which I am considerably im-

52 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1835,

proved already, although my bones ache prodigiously.
I have not yet botanized largely. When at Bridge-
water I secured all I could find of the new Carex ;
also C. chordorhiza, which, by the way, Crawe has
found in his region. I hope soon to collect more ex-
tensively, but in this vicinity there are no plants of
especial interest. I have just now a mania for exam-
ining and preserving the roots and fruits of our plants
(I make notes of everything in a copy of your " Com-
pendium "), and I hope to bring you a collection in this
way which will interest, and perhaps be of some use
to you. Fruits and ripe seeds are not often to be ob-
tained, at least in a proper state, in our herbaria. I
have been examining our Smilax rotundifolia. It is a
regular endogenous shrub, although it sometimes dies
nearly to the ground, but always sends out a branch
from the uppermost node which survives the winter.
It branches just , as any endogen would, because the
terminal bud is killed ; the branches are cylindrical,
and increase very little in diameter after their pro-
duction. A cross-section shows the same structure as
the rattan, i. e., the vascular and woody bundles are
arranged equally throughout the stem. But a great
part of the stem is prostrate beneath the surface, and
it may be traced back, alive and dead, for several
years' growth. In fact I have not yet succeeded in
tracing the stem back to the true root ; all I have seen
are adventitious roots sent off by the nodes of the
stem. This is the only endogenous shrub, I presume,
in the Northern States. By the way, the term rhizoma
must be used much in descriptive botany, and be ex-
tended so as to include all subterranean, nearly hori-
zontal stems, or portions of the stem, which produce
roots from any part of their surface and buds from

JET. 24.] TO HIS FATHER. 53

their extremity. It occurs in a great part of herba-
ceous perennials, and can always in practice be distin-
guished from the root, although it is still described
as root in all the books ; witness, Hydrophyllum,
Act^ea, Caulophyllum, Trillium, Convallaria, and so on
to infinity.

I am not yet perfectly satisfied about our Actseas ;
thus the red-berried one is now perfectly ripe, while
the berries of the white one are but half -grown ; all
the red ones, so far as I have seen, have slender pedi-
cels also, yet the leaves and the rhizomata are exactly
alike. By the way, while I was botanizing this after-
noon, I met with great quantities of Orchis specta-
bilis, by far the largest and finest I ever saw ; their
leaves emulating Habenaria orbiculata. If you care
for them in the slightest degree, I will secure a suffi-
cient quantity to fill your garden. O. spectabilis will,
while in flower, be a very pretty spectacle. . . .
I remain cordially and truly yours,

A. GRAY.

TO HIS FATHER.

NEW YORK, September 28, 1835.

I suppose I have been a little negligent in waiting
so long before I wrote home, but in truth I did not
wish to write until I had something certain to say,
and even now I have very little. I met Dr. Hadley
in Utica just at dusk on the evening of the day
you left me there, so I stayed all night there, and
went to Fairfield next day. I stayed at Fairfield
until Tuesday afternoon, then went to Little Falls,
and arrived in Albany just in time for the evening
boat next day, and was in New York at breakfast
next morning.

54 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1835,

Since my return I have been very busy, and on the
whole very comfortably situated. I have got back to
my class in the Sunday-school; both teachers and
scholars have mostly returned, for they all get scat-
tered during the warm months of the summer ; and we
are now going on very well. On my arrival here I
found a very fine package of dried plants collected by
my friend the Eev. John Diell, chaplain for American
seamen in the Sandwich Islands. I set about them
immediately, and it has taken me nearly all my time
this month to study them, but I have now finished
them. I shall send my notes about them to Professor
Hooker of Glasgow, Scotland, that he may, if he
pleases, publish them in the "Journal of Botany," of
which he is the editor. They are of more interest to
the people on that side of the water than to us. I
have again sat down to writing upon the work in
which I have been engaged all summer, and I do not
mean that anything else shall tempt me from it until
it is finished, although a nice little parcel of weeds
from China, sent by S. Wells Williams 1 (son of Wm.
Williams), lies at my elbow. As to my book,2 I am
trying to make a bargain with two publishers ; the
prospects seem pretty fair, and I shall probably get
$300, which is the sum I insist on. I shall have a
definite answer in a few days. As to my course and
occupation for the winter I can say nothing, for I
have not hit upon any certain plan. One thing is
pretty certain after thinking over the matter quite
seriously, and consulting with Dr. Hadley, who is my

1 S. Wells Williams, 1812-1884. Went as missionary to China in
1833. Wrote a Chinese dictionary and other works ; translated Gene-
sis and Matthew into Japanese also. Later was secretary of the Amer-
ican Legation to China ; returned to America in 1875.

2 Elements of Botany.

JKT. 24,] TO HIS FATHER. 55

firm friend in all these matters : I am determined to
persevere for a little while yet before I give up all
hopes from science as a pursuit for life. I have now,
and expect to have, a great many discouragements,
but I shall meet them as well as I can, until it shall
seem to be my duty to adopt some other profession
for my daily bread. I have several plans before me,
some of which you would think rather bold ; but I
have not yet settled upon any of them. As soon as
I take any steps at all I will let you know. . . .

I know little of what is going on in the town. I
have not been down into the business part of the city
over five or six times since I have been here. When
Mr. Rogers comes down, if he will let me know where
he stops in season, I will see him. I shall write
again to some of you in a very short time. Let me
hear soon from some of you, and though I have here
little time for writing letters, I will give punctual
answers. I remain, with love to mother and all the
rest, Very truly yours,

A. GRAY.

NEW YORK, November 17, 1835.

To-day when I go down town I shall subscribe for
the " New York Observer " for you, and pay for a
year. The "Observer" and 'the "Evangelist" are
both excellent papers, and I hardly know which to
choose. I would send the " Evangelist," did not Mr.
Leavitt fill it up too much with anti-slavery. One
should if possible read both.

I am now boarding at 286 Bleeker Street, but
when you write to me you may direct as before, as
I am at Dr. Torrey's a part of almost every day. I
have a very comfortable and quiet place, for which

56 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1836,

I pay $4 per week, and keep a fire besides, which I
suppose will startle you a little. I hope to obtain
the situation of curator to the Lyceum of Natural
History in the spring, when their new building is
finished. The duties of the situation will take up
only a part of my time. I shall have under my charge
the best scientific library and cabinet in the city, a
couple of fine rooms to live in, and a salary of about
'$300. But although I can secure pretty strong influ-
ence, the best members of the society offering me the
place and wishing me to take it, yet it is not certain
that we shall bring it about, so I say nothing about it.
I shall let you know whenever any changes offer in
my situation.

TO JOHN TORREY.

NEW YORK, July 11, 1836.

DEAE DOCTOK, — Since your departure several
memoranda of more or less consequence have accu-
mulated around me, and (having not yet heard from
you) I will now communicate them, together with
whatever intelligence I think will interest you. To
begin with the most important. I have now (5 P. M.)
just returned from your house, where I found a parcel
for you (received by mail from Philadelphia, postage
the mere trifle of $1.14|), with the Hamburg seal,
and the handwriting of our old correspondent, Pro-
fessor Lehmann. Suspecting it to contain advice of
packages of plants or books, I took the liberty to open
it. I found two diplomas in high Dutch. Shade of
Leopoldino-Carolinese Caesar, academic nature curi-
osorum ! Hide your diminished head, and give way to
the Konigliche Botanische Gesellschaft in Regens-
burg ! — which being interpreted means, I imagine,
the Royal Botanical Society of Regensburg. Now I

^T. 25.] TO W. J. HOOKER. 57

know as little of Regensburg and the Regensburg peo-
ple who have done us such honor as a certain old lady
did of the famous King of Prussia ; but I ratherly
think it means Ratisbon. . . .

Box of plants and box of bones are here ; the plants
certainly look the more antediluvian of the two. The
specimens are wretched and mostly devoid of interest.
The bones will be served up at the Lyceum this even-
ing. . . . On the same day last week I received a
letter from Dewey,1 and another from Carey, and ac-
cording to both their accounts they must have been
in raptures with each other. Dewey sends love to
friend Torrey, and Carey kind regards to Dr. and
Mrs. T. Dewey says Carey is rather savage upon
species, and where Carey has not given him a favora-
ble opinion upon any, it would amuse you to see how
Dewey has detailed them to me, in order if possible
to save the poor creatures' lives. Dewey has a good
spirit and is altogether a most estimable man, and I am
sorry that we have to pull down any of his work. I
must write him a few things, that it may not come
upon him all at once. .... Yours truly,

A. GRAY.

TO W. J. HOOKER.

NEW YORK, April 7, 1836.

DEAR SIR, — I take the opportunity of acknow-
ledging the receipt of your two kind letters, which
reached me a few weeks since nearly at the same time,
one by the Liverpool packet and the other by the
Lady Hannah Ellice. Allow me also to thank you

1 Chester Dewey, 1784-1887 ; professor in Williams College, Massa-
chusetts. Removed to Rochester, N. Y., 1836, where he died. " C^r-
ried on the study of Carex and published on them for more than forty
years " [A. G.j.

58 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1836,

for the trouble you have taken in naming the set of
mosses, and especially for the beautiful parcel of
British mosses you were so good as to send me, which
were truly welcome. All British plants are so, as
I have next to none in my herbarium ; but nothing
could be more acceptable than such a complete and
authentic suit of the mosses of your country.

As to the Sandwich Island plants, I hardly know
what to say. Supposing they might be of some use
to you in connection with other collections, I copied
the brief notes I made on studying them very hur-
riedly indeed, and placed them at your disposal. I
did not possess sufficient means for determining them
in a satisfactory manner, and fear I have committed
errors in many cases. You will doubtless detect these
at once, and if, on the whole, you think proper to pub-
lish them in the " Companion to the Botanical Maga-
zine," may I ask you to revise the paper, and freely
make such corrections and alterations as you think
proper. In that case, if you think the notes worthy
of publication, I should not object ; yet you are equally
at liberty to use them in any other way. The parcel
contained a specimen of a Composita (from Mouna
Kea) which puzzled me extremely, and I was unable
to ascertain its genus by Lessing. The anthers are
free, or slightly coherent, in all the flowers I examined.
Since the parcel was transmitted to you I have seen a
specimen of Rhus (from Sandwich Islands) resem-
bling the one in the parcel, except in having pubescent
leaves. The latter is therefore improperly charac-
terized, and perhaps will prove to be a well-known
species. I shall hope to receive other and more com-
plete specimens from Mr. Diell, and if I am so fortu-
nate will gladly share with so esteemed a correspond-

^T. 25.J TO W. J. HOOKER. 59

ent as Dr. Hooker. I hope to send you a parcel by
the first opportunity that occurs of sending direct to
Glasgow ; when I will put up specimens of the mosses
you desire, and will send a copy of the " Gramineae
and Cyperaceae " for the gentleman at Paris who
wishes it.

It is so troublesome and expensive to get them
bound that I should much prefer, if any of your
friends and correspondents should desire them, to send
the specimens with labels and loose title-pages, at $4
per volume, each comprising, as you are aware, one
hundred species. I may in that way furnish larger and
often more perfect or more numerous specimens than
in the bound copies. I hope to publish the third
(and perhaps also the fourth) volume early next
autumn.

Allow me to express my thanks for your kind assist-
ance in various ways, and to say that I shall hereafter
(D. V.) prosecute the study of our lovely science with
increased zeal. I remain, with sentiments of the high-
est esteem,

Your much obliged friend, ASA GRAY.

October 10, 1836.

I also beg your acceptance of a copy of a little ele-
mentary botanical work published last spring. I do
not expect it to possess any particular interest in your
eyes; but in this country, unfortunately, no popular
and at the same time scientific elementary treatise
has been generally accessible to botanical students,
and such a work was so greatly needed that I felt
constrained to make the attempt, since no better-
qualified person could be induced to undertake the
labor.

60 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1836,

A letter which Dr. Torrey has just received from
Mr. Arnott gives me the information that you have
honored my attempt at a monograph of Rhynchospora
by commencing the reprinting of it in the " Companion
to the Botanical Magazine." I might justly be proud
that my first attempt should be thought worthy such
notice ; but I wish it had been delayed until you could
receive the monograph " Cyperacese of North America "
of Dr. Torrey, in which I had occasion, in the revision
of our Rhynchosporae, to make some important altera-
tions and corrections, as well as to introduce a new
species and specify some additional localities. The
paper referred to I hope you will receive with this
letter.

Except a few extra copies, all the sheets of the mon-
ograph " Rhynchosporae " were destroyed by fire soon
after being printed, and when reprinted, about a year
since, I added a few observations, notes of additional
localities, etc. But owing to a want of careful revi-
sion I find there are several errors (several of which
are quite material), some of the pen and others of the
types. I hope these have been detected and corrected
in the course of the reprint. I send herewith the
sheets of the paper as published here, with such typo-
graphical corrections as now occur to me. Would it
not be proper to append a reprint of the revision of
Rhynchosporae in Dr. Torrey 's monograph, a copy of
which I hope will reach you with the present letter.
If the specimens I send please Mr. Webb I shall be
glad. It is the last perfect set I have. Please make
no remittance, since the sum is too trifling, and more-
over I may soon have some favors to ask as to its dis-
posal. Indeed, I know not why I should not state
that there is some probability that I may soon visit

^T. 25.] TO HIS FATHER. 61

the islands of the South Pacific Ocean as a bota-
nist, in the exploring expedition now fitting out un-
der the orders of our government. I am anxious to
engage in this work, and I suppose may do so if I
choose, but I fear that the expedition, which, if well
appointed and conducted, may do much for the ad-
vancement of the good cause of science, may be so
marred by improper appointments as to render it un-
advisable for me to be connected with it. I therefore
at present can merely throw out the intimation that
I may possibly accompany the naval expedition which
is expected to sail early in the spring, and to spend
two years in the southern portions of the Pacific
Ocean. If so I hope to decide the matter in time to
procure many needed works, etc., from England and
France. I must here close by subscribing myself,
with the highest respect,

Your obedient servant, ASA GRAY.

TO HIS FATHER.

NEW YORK, October 8, 1836.

You may recollect that I intimated to you that there
was some probability of my changing my situation be-
fore a great while. Matters are now in such a state
that it becomes proper to inform you that I shall prob-
ably be offered the situation of botanist to the scien-
tific exploring expedition, now fitting out for the South
Sea by the United States government. This is to be
a large expedition, consisting of a frigate, two brigs,
a store-ship, and a schooner ; it is to be absent i about
three years. It will sail possibly in the course of the
winter, but very probably not until spring. The scien-
tific corps will consist of several persons, in different
departments of science, and the persons who will prob-

62 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1836,

ably be selected are mostly my personal friends : two
of them at least having been recommended at my sug-
gestion. The quarters offered us, and the accommoda-
tions, will be ample and complete, and the pay will
probably be considerable. We hope to obtain over
$ 2500 per year. Had I room here I would write you
further particulars, but this will do for the present.
I ask whether, if everything is arranged in a satisfac-
tory manner, you are willing and think it best that I
should go. I think it not unlikely that the appoint-
ments will be made during the present month. A
few days ago I was offered the professorship of
chemistry and natural history in the college at Jack-
son, Louisiana (in the upper part of that State, near
the Mississippi River), with a salary of $1500 per
year. This I at once declined. I do not like the
Southern States.

Yours affectionately, A. GKAY.

NEW YORK, November 21, 1836.

No appointments are yet made in the scientific corps
of the South Sea expedition. The difficulties as to
the naval officers are only just settled. There are so
many who wish to command that it is impossible to
please them all. Captain Jones, the commander, is
now in town, and I had the pleasure of seeing him this
evening at the Astor hotel. He goes to Boston to-
morrow to look after the two brigs fitting out at the
navy yard there.

The Secretary of the Navy has written me that
when the appointments are made in the scientific
corps, the chief naturalists will be called to Washing-
ton for a few days, for the distribution of duties
among them. If the place for which I ask is given

^T. 26.] TO HIS FATHER. 63

me, it is not unlikely that I may be in Washington
early next month. I think you cannot expect E.
and myself before about Thanksgiving Day, when if
she should have recovered we shall have one reason
more than usual for returning thanks to the Author of
all good. You did not, it appears, think it a matter
of sufficient consequence to say anything about my
contemplated voyage ; or to offer even an opinion
about the matter. Perhaps you thought that, like
most people, I only asked advice after I had made up
my own mind ; and you are not far from correct in
this supposition. Still I should have been glad to
know that you take some interest in the matter.

As soon as anything is determined upon at head-
quarters I will let you know. . . .

March 21, 1837.

Since I wrote you last I have been to Washington.
I was there at the inauguration and for a few days
afterwards. We were not sent for by the Secretary
of the Navy, so we had to bear our own traveling ex-
penses, which were not small. When the secretary
chooses to convene us, which he seems in no great
hurry to do, we shall probably be directed to meet at
Philadelphia, or perhaps at New York. There seems
to be no doubt but that we shall be here until July.

As they do not choose to advance us any pay yet,
money will be very scarce with me for a month or two
at least. My engagement at the Lyceum terminated
at the close of their year, that is, on the last Monday
of last month. So, although I occupy my rooms here
until the first of May, I draw no salary.

64 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1837,

TO JOHN F. TROWBRIDGE.

NEW YORK, November 9, 1837.

DEAR DOCTOR, — Your letter and that of Mrs. T.,
dated November 7, reached me this afternoon, to which
I hasten to reply, as I have been just on the point of
writing you for a week past, but have waited from day
to day, in the expectation of being able to afford you
more definite information than I could have done. It
is this, rather than want of time or inclination, that
often causes the delay in writing to my friends. The
intelligence which concerns us and interests our friends
comes in little by little, day by day. Thus, for in-
stance, the scientific corps were ordered to report here
to Commander Jones nearly three weeks ago, and they
have been here waiting for a long time, for the secre-
tary had neglected to inform Jones of the fact, and he
had come back to his home, and only returned here this
week. t However, we have now reported and shall take
possession of our quarters in a fortnight. They are
now undergoing some alterations. We have appointed
a caterer, advanced each $120, and our stores will now
be soon laid in. The purser of our squadron to-day
paid us four months' pay in advance, a very seasona-
ble assistance. My bills having been approved by
the government I am now paying them off, and must
see to getting all my materials packed up and sent to
the vessels, which are now lying at the navy yard,
Brooklyn.

This will employ me for a day or two. It is impos-
sible even now to tell you the time of sailing with any
certainty. My opinion is that we shall get off about
the first or before the 10th of December. It is certain
that the ships and stores will not be ready within

^ET. 27.] TO JOHN F. TROWBRIDGE. 65

three weeks, and it would not surprise me, after what
I have seen, if we should be kept back longer than
you expect. Let us once get to sea and you will not
see or hear of so much dilatoriness from us.

November 10. I was prevented from closing my
letter last evening by the calling of Professor Henry,
who has just returned from a visit of nine months to
France and Great Britain. I have been very much
engaged all day, and sit down now for a little time,
hoping to finish a few letters which have been delayed
too long already.

December 5.

I am here yet, and am like to be for a month or so.
Commander Jones has been sick for two or three
weeks, and I am sorry to say there seems little proba-
bility that he will be much better ever. He has a bad
cough, and raises blood — is of a consumptive habit.
As he has been growing worse, he this morning left
for Philadelphia, on his way home. It is thus most
probable that we shall have a new commander, and a
considerable delay is unavoidable. I think the secre-
tary will be put right this winter by Congress.

Do let me know how Mrs. Trowbridge is. Please
send this note to my father, as it is a week or more
since I wrote. As soon as anything further is known
I will let you know.

Yours very tridy, A. GRAY.

July 18, 1838.

DEAR TRO, — I find, by turning over some books
that have been lying on my table, four reviews which
certainly ought to have been sent you long ago, but
which have been forgotten in my great hurry for the

€6 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1838,

last week or two. I will send them, with this, to-mor-
row ; so look out for them. I have not heard from
you since I wrote you a pretty long epistle.

On the 10th instant I tendered my resignation, or
rather requested to be left out in the new arrangement.
I supposed that it would have been accepted and no
words made ; but instead Mr. Poinsett sends me word
to come on to Washington and have a talk with him,
to learn more definitely what their plans, etc., are,
and thinks he will be able to remove my present dis-
satisfaction, and if not says I may have leave to with-
draw, but urges me not to insist upon resigning
without coming on to Washington. Dana and Cou-
thouy are also invited to come on, Pickering being
already there. Though this request reaches me in
such a form that I cannot claim my traveling ex-
penses, and probably shall not get them (which is just
like this nasty administration), yet I suppose I must
go on. The only difficulty is that I am afraid they
will ply me with such strong reasons as to prevail on
me to hold my situation, particularly as their new
plan has the advantage of leaving home all the block-
heads and taking the best fellows ; and moreover some
other very promising offers that I had have not been
brought to bear very directly ; in fact I see that I
should get nothing satisfactory from them for a year
or two. I intend to set out for Washington to-mor-
row afternoon. I shall endeavor to make a very short
stay, and if I come to any determination there I will
try to let you know.

I have scarcely time to write another letter; so
please send this up to my father, who has not heard
from me in a good while.

Yours very truly, A. G.

JET. 27.J TO MRS. TORREY. 67

TO HIS FATHER.

NEW YORK, August 6, 1838.

I have resigned niy place in the exploring expedi-
tion ! So that job is got along with. I have been
long in a state of uncertainty and perplexity about the
matter ; but I believe that I have taken the right
course. I leave here to-morrow, and am obliged to
travel as fast as I can go to Detroit. I shall drop
this note on the road somewhere : probably at Utica.
I must get as near to Detroit as possible by Saturday
evening. I hope to return in the latter part of the
month ; and intend to make you a visit on my way
back.

TO MRS. TORREY.

BATAVIA, GENESEE COUNTY, N. Y.
Friday morning, August 10, 1838.

MY DEAR MRS. TORREY, — The place from which
I write is a very pleasant and flourishing country vil-
lage ; the shire-town of Genesee County, forty-four
miles from Buffalo and about thirty-four from Roch-
ester. Here is your humble servant and correspond-
ent " laid up for repairs." This is, you may say, my
first stopping-place since I left New York, from which
place I am distant 418 miles. But I may as well
begin at the beginning. I left home, as you remem-
ber, on Tuesday evening; breakfasted in Albany,
dined at Utica, took stage immediately for Buffalo.
We took our supper at Chittenango, which Dr. T.
will recollect as the Ultima Thule of our peregrinations
in the summer of 1836, and near which place we
found the Scolopendrium. Riding all night we were
at Auburn (a lovely village) by daybreak, and, pass-

68 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1838,

ing through Geneva, arrived at Canandaigua in time
for dinner. We reached Avon, on the Genesee
Kiver, by sunset. Here is a famous sulphur spring ;
and people crowd the dirty hotels and boarding-houses
to drink nasty water. We reached the next consider-
able village, LeRoy, early in the evening ; but our next
stage, which brought us to this place, only ten miles,
was two and a half hours ; so it was about midnight
when I arrived here, in a very pitiable plight, so
thoroughly exhausted I was obliged to leave the coach
and betake myself to rest. • I was very unwilling to do
this so long as I was able to ride, as, had I continued
with the coach, I should have reached Buffalo early in
the morning and in time for the steamboat, in which
case I could expect to reach Detroit Saturday after-
noon, making only four days from New York.

I find myself much better this morning, though
weak, and so unstable about the epigastrium that I
scarcely dare take any food. I have been debating
with myself whether to go on directly to Buffalo to-
day, and take the steamboat of to-morrow morning
for Cleveland, or some other port in Ohio that I may
be able to reach by Saturday evening ; or to go from
this place directly to Niagara Falls, which I could
reach before evening, and remain there until Monday
morning. I have pretty nearly decided upon taking
the former course, as I shall save some time thereby.
But I dread a tedious ride in a stagecoach. In either
case I hope to have an opportunity of writing again
to-morrow evening.

I met Professor Bailey,1 of West Point, on board

1 Jacob Whitman Bailey, 1811-1857; professor in the Military
Academy at West Point. One of the earliest students of American
Algae, and distinguished also for his microscopic researches in botany.

MT. 27.] TO MRS. TORREY. 69

the boat in which I came up the river. He had
called the evening previous, when both Dr. Torrey
and myself were out. He informed me that the pro-
fessorship of chemistry, etc., was now established by
law on the same footing with the other professor-
ships at West Point, and that the pay of all was in-
creased, so that it is now equivalent to that of a major
of cavalry ; and more than this : he has been success-
ful in obtaining the place for himself. The stage is
nearly ready, and I must hasten. Did the doctor
meet Mr. Herrick? I have been thinking that, as
they do not know each other, the chance of their
meeting at the Astor House is but slight. I must
have given both him and yourself no little trouble
with my expedition trappings ; and if Herrick should
conclude to stay at home after all, which is not un-
likely, we shall lose our labor. However, tell Dr. T.
that I will do as much for him whenever he fits
out for an exploring expedition !

CLEVELAND, OHIO, August 12, 1838, —
the 4th day of my pilgrimage.

Ere this reaches you, a letter which I sent to the
post-office in Batavia, New York, will probably have
come to hand. The coach called for me before I
had finished, and I was obliged to take my portfolio
in my hand, and finish, seal, and address the letter in
the coach during a moment's delay at the stage-
office. I arrived at Buffalo a few minutes after sun-
set ; stopped at a hotel not very much smaller than
the Astor House, with accommodations scarcely infe-
rior. Learning that a boat was to leave for Detroit
and the intervening ports that evening at eight o'clock I
secured a passage. The internal organization of the

70 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1838,

Bunker Hill (and I believe the other boats on the
lake are not materially different) is rather odd, but
very well adapted to answer the purpose for which it is
intended. All the boats carry large quantities of
freight, and the whole space beneath the main deck is
occupied by merchandise, and by the boilers and fuel.
The deck is crowded with boxes, bales, and casks,
many of which are directed to places in the far West
yet so distant that they have hardly commenced their
journey. The after part is occupied chiefly by a sort
of cabin for deck passengers (equivalent to steerage
passengers), in which men, women, and children,
Dutch, Irish, Swiss, and Yankee, are promiscuously
jumbled. It is infinitely better, however, than the
steerage of packet-ships. The bow of the boat is
occupied by a different set of passengers, viz., eight or
ten horses, destined to draw sundry wagons which
now occupy a very conspicuous situation in front of
the promenade-deck. You would suppose there was
no room left for cabin passengers. On the contrary,
their accommodations, though by no means splendid,
are really very comfortable and complete. They
occupy what in a North River boat forms the prome-
nade-deck, which here extends nearly the whole length
of the vessel, has a ladies' saloon entirely separate
from the gentlemen's cabin, and three or four private
state-rooms for families. The gentlemen's cabin is
fitted up with state-rooms with three berths in each,
and as there was only a moderate number of pas-
sengers I was so fortunate as to secure a whole state-
room to myself, where I enjoyed very comfortable
rest. When I rose, we were approaching the town of
Erie, Pennsylvania. I made an attempt, while we
were detained at the wharf, to get on shore to botanize ;

JET. 27.] TO MRS. TORREY. 71

but time would not permit, and I consoled myself
with the comfortable reflection that the dry and ster-
ile gravely banks of the lake were not likely to
afford me anything worth the trouble. We had a
strong head wind nearly all day, so that our progress
was not very rapid : the surface of the lake was cov-
ered with white-caps, and the boat pitched so as
sadly to disturb the equanimity of a great part of the
passengers. Indeed, although I was at no time sick,
I found it the most prudent course to pass a large
portion of the time in a recumbent position ; and I
was heartily glad when, a little before sunset, we came
in sight of Cleveland. One or two passengers, des-
tined for Detroit, etc., landed to pass the Sabbath
here, among whom was Mr. Baldwin of Philadelphia,
the machinist, a member of Mr. Barnes' church, a
very able and interesting man. We are both at the
same hotel, and it being much crowded we occupy
rooms which open into each other. I had a little
time before night-fall to walk through the city (which
will ultimately be a very pleasant place, and is now
flourishing, but like most Western towns in a very
unfinished state). The people show some signs of
civilization : they eat ice-cream, which is sold in many
places. I tried the article and found it- very good, —
nearly the same as what I might just at this moment
be enjoying at 30 MacDougal Street, were I now
there (as I wish I was), for it is more than probable
that the notes of the peripatetic vender are falling
upon your ear. Returning to the hotel I consulted
the city directory, and read an account of the early
settlement of this portion of the State, which is the
famous Western Reserve once owned by Connecticut
and settled mostly by citizens of that State, who

72 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1838,

brought with them the heretical doctrines and
measures which caused the expulsion of the Western
Reserve synod last year. But the evening is ad-
vancing, and I must break off; and hoping that the
approaching Sabbath may be profitable to both of us
and that you may be blessed with comfortable health
and strength to enjoy it, I bid you good-night.

Sunday evening. — I attended the First Presbyterian
Church this morning, expecting to hear Mr. Aikin,
the pastor, formerly of Utica ; but, instead, we heard
President McGuffey of Cincinnati College, who is
quite a celebrated man in this State.

Detroit, Tuesday noon. — I improve the first mo-
ment I could secure for the purpose to continue my
letter, hoping to fill the sheet in time for the next
mail.

On Monday (yesterday) morning I went botaniz-
ing, but found absolutely nothing. I kept near the
shore of the lake that I might see the first steamboat
that came in sight, and one was momently expected.
It did not arrive, however, until eleven o'clock, and
it was a little after noon before we were under way.
The wind was very fresh, and the billows of Lake Erie
would not have disgraced the Atlantic. It was,
however, in our favor, and we made good progress ;
but for about two hours we had to run in the trough
of the sea, so that the boat pitched and rolled sadly.
At sunset we arrived at Sandusky in Ohio. The
entrance to the bay is very beautiful. The lake is
studded with islands of various sizes, all covered with
trees, with here and there a house or a cultivated
field upon the larger ones. It was dark before we
left ; the water was still rough. I went into the cabin
and read until it was time to occupy my berth. I am

JET. 27.] TO MRS. TORRE Y. 73

not sure whether I told you that I had lost Bishop
Berkeley. I left it behind at Avon, where I was too
sick to think about it, but the driver promised me
faithfully, for value received, to look it up and send
it to the stage-office at Buffalo, where I may find it
on my return.

I was roused this morning just at daybreak. We
were just at Detroit. I established myself at a hotel,
got my breakfast, and sallied forth to survey the
town, which is larger than I supposed and most beau-
tifully situated. As soon as I thought your friend,
C. W. Whipple, l might be at his office I called to
pay my respects and deliver the doctor's letter. He
was not in ; but arrived in a few minutes. He is a
good-looking man, but I suspect rather older and a
good deal fatter than when you knew him. His black
hair has a few silver threads mingled with it, but his
countenance is youthful and most thoroughly good-
natured. "We had some conversation ; then went to
see Dr. Pitcher, but he was not at home : thence to
Dr. Houghton's house, which is entirely occupied as a
store-house for the stuff collected in the State survey.
It is astonishing what a prodigious quantity of labor
Dr. H. and his companions have done and what ex-
tensive collections they have made. Dr. H. is not
now at home but is expected to-morrow. We went
next to the State-House, but did not find Governor
Mason at his office. We looked through the building,
at their commencement for a State library, etc.,
where we met some of the dignitaries of the State.

1 Charles W. Whipple, died in 1855. Was educated at West Point,
where probably he was a pupil of Dr. Torrey. He was never in the
army, but studied law and practiced in Detroit ; was made Judge,
then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Michigan. Ex-officio
regent of the State university.

74 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1838,

We ascended into the cupola which crowns the build-
ing, where we have a most beautiful view of the town
and region round about, the roads all diverging from
the centre, the noble river, which we could trace from
its commencement in Lake St. Clair. The people
are evidently very proud of the prospect. By the
way, I hear that the doctor's protege Dr. Fischer has
been here, and has gone on to Indiana to astonish
the people with his new fashion of blowing up rocks.
He has performed wonders in this way between this
place and New York. Whipple thinks they will have
some place for him next winter. The university
branch in this place has a vacation soon, and a public
examination is now going on ; thither we next directed
our steps. I was introduced to the principal, Mr.
Fitch, to whom they give a salary of $1500 per annum.
I am informed that they employ no teachers or princi-
pals in any of the branches without first submitting
them to a thorough examination. We stayed until
the examination suspended for dinner, when I returned
to my room, and here you see me engaged. — Sunset.
After dinner Mr. Whipple called for me, and we went
to see Governor Mason at his house. We were intro-
duced to his sisters. . . . They live in a very good
house, quite elegantly furnished. We stayed only a
few minutes, all going to Whipple 's office, where a
meeting of the board of regents was appointed to be
held. It was known that there would be no quorum,
so they adjourned until Thursday, when Mr. Mundy is
expected back from New York, and a meeting of con-
sequence will be held. I was introduced to Chancel-
lor Farnsworth (who wrote me from the committee),
Major Kearsley, Judge Brooks (Whipple's father-in-
law) and others. We all went to the examination,

MT. 27.] TO MRS. TORRE Y. 75

which was, as usual, very stupid, and as it closed we
stopped in at the Catholic church — cathedral as it is
called — and saw the pictures, of which there are sev-
eral, some of them valuable. I was struck with a por-
trait of St. Peter, a stout Paddy-looking fellow with a
heavy black beard and mustachios, bare-footed, lug-
ging a pair of keys as large as he could grasp ! We
expect nearly all hands to go to Ann Arbor on Fri-
day. All speak in glowing terms of the beauty of
the location for the university. I had a few minutes'
conversation with Whipple as to the plan of buildings,
etc., which satisfied me, but I wait for more informa-
tion before I attempt to write you about the matter.

I am, so far, pleased on the whole with the pros-
pects here, and think they are more promising than I
had at first supposed. I must break off again, as I
see Governor Mason has come, as he promised, to give
me a call. I had hoped to conclude and fill the sheet
ere this. I find that we had the fortune to come
through the lake in rather slow vessels. There are
several upon the lake which make . the trip between
Buffalo and Detroit in twenty-six or twenty-seven
hours. These are large and really splendid boats,
carrying little freight, with richly furnished cabins.
I will try to arrange matters so as to come down in
one of these boats. To-morrow I hope to botanize a
little. . . . Mr. Whipple has also asked me to take a
ride up to the foot of St. Clair Lake. Now I have
nearly filled this very large sheet, and it is so dark I
can hardly see to finish. I shall look at the office to-
morrow for a letter from home.

I was asked to-day if I would stay here until
toward winter ! I said I had rather on the whole be
excused !

76 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1838,

How are the girls ? I must write to them specially
as soon as I can. Does the doctor go regularly to
market every morning ? I hope to get away from
here early next week. Best remembrances to the
doctor. Adieu.

DETROIT, August 16, 1838.

My last letter left here, I suppose, in yesterday
morning's boat, and will reach New York in four days.
Since its last date nothing whatever has transpired
here of any interest. Dr. Houghton arrived here yes-
terday morning, and as it was a rainy day I spent
near the whole time at his house. He is a very ener-
getic little fellow, and the account of his adventures in
exploring the unsettled portions of the State is very
interesting. He has slept in a house not more than a
dozen nights since the commencement of his surveys
this season. Mr. Whipple was somewhat unwell, and
I saw him but for a few minutes. I am now going
round to his office to read the newspapers, as a mail
from New York must have arrived this morning.

Thursday evening. — I spent the whole morning
with Mr. Whipple, who is really a downright clever
fellow in both the English and the Yankee senses of
the term. We compared notes fully about the uni-
versity and everything about the matter we could
think of. I obtained all the information he could
afford me about what they were doing, and con-
templated doing. I told him fully what I wished
to do, and in everything I believe we understood
each other and agreed wonderfully. This is im-
portant, because Whipple, although secretary of the
board, is not a member ; yet he is the moving spirit of
the whole, and throws his whole energy into the work.
We owe the plan adopted as to the arrangement of

^T. 27.] TO MRS. TORREY. 11

buildings, etc., to him, and he carried it over consider-
able opposition. As I know it is just what will please
the doctor I mention it here. It is to have the profes-
sor's houses entirely distinct from both the university
building and the dormitories of the students. The
grounds are nearly square, and are to be entirely
surrounded by an avenue. He proposes to have
a university building for lecture-rooms, library, lab-
oratory, etc., but to contain no students and no
families; to have two lateral buildings for students
and the tutors who have the immediate charge of
of them. Then to build professors' houses on the
other side of the quadrangle, fronting the main build-
ing, each with about an acre of land for yard and
garden, by which the houses will not only be away
from the students, but at sufficient distance from each
other to render them retired and quiet. It is quite a
point with him that the professors shall have retired,
comfortable houses, so that they shall be subject to no
annoyance. By the way, Whipple informed me to-day
of something that had turned up quite unexpectedly.
Your old friend is about to be made a judge. The
appointment is expected to be made by the first of
next month. He is induced to accept this place be-
cause it will release him from the drudgery of pro-
fessional business and give him nearly six months of
leisure each year : which leisure he wishes to devote
to the interests of the university. This will make
him a member of the board of regents, of which the
judges are ex-officio members.

There was to be a meeting of the regents this even-
ing ; but as Lieutenant-Go vernor Mundy had not
arrived there was no quorum. It seems that Mundy
has not managed well, and has allowed the plans to

78 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1838,

be delayed, and Davis, instead of sending the plan he
promised, is coming out here to see for himself. So
it is probable the plans will not all be in for a month
or so. Chancellor Farnsworth, the chairman of the
committee appointed to confer with me, called to-day,
but I was out. I saw him this evening. Whipple had
repeated to him the substance of my conversation with
him, and I am desired to commit my plans to writing,
that he may embody it in his report at the next meet-
ing of the regents. This I am to do to-morrow (D. V.)
and to call on the chancellor to-morrow evening, with
Whipple, to talk over the matter. There is every rea-
son to believe that my propositions will be adopted.
I say nothing about the subject of salary, and avoid the
matter's being broached until the rest is settled. I
shall leave it for them to propose. If they employ me
according to the plan I shall present, they can't well
avoid offering to pay me handsomely. Prospective
appointments will be offered erelong (the coming fall
or early in winter) to Professor Henry, Professor Tor-
rey, and perhaps one or two others. Whipple expressed
a desire to attempt to secure Professor Douglass 1 for
the department of engineering, etc. Everything looks
well. The board are determined to prescribe a course
of studies and training which shall bring the school up
at once to the highest standard. I do not think that
there exists another board of regents in the country
that will compare with this for energy and capability.
But I must break off, as I have a pretty important lec-
ture to prepare to-morrow. I am afraid that these long

1 David Bates Douglass, 1790-1849. He held the professorship of
natural philosophy and civil architecture in the University of New
York, and was afterward president of Kenyon College. He laid out
Greenwood Cemetery.

JET. 27.] TO MRS. TORRE Y. 79

letters, in which I set down everything that happens
from morning to night, will prove very tiresome to you ;
but I have nothing else to write about. I am anxious
to get through, when I will return as fast as steam-
boats and railroads will carry me.

ANN ARBOR, August 20.

I snatch the few moments that are left me ere the
arrival of the stage that is to take me to Detroit to
complete my journal. I broke off, I think, late on
Thursday evening. On Friday I kept close to my
room until I had finished my letter to Chancellor Farns-
worth. I sallied out about 4 p. M., showed my letter
to Whipple, who approved it altogether and insisted
upon our calling on the governor and showing it to
him, in order that he might drive the committee a lit-
tle, if it should be necessary. The servant told us his
Excellency was not at home, but Whipple insisted
upon his looking into his private room, before he was
too confident. And there sure enough we found him.
Mason will be down erelong to take a wife. With
his approval, the letter was sent round to the chan-
cellor. Whipple, Pitcher, Houghton, and myself
spent the evening at the chancellor's residence, a very
pretty place. Mrs. Farnsworth is very ladylike and
agreeable. Both the chancellor and his lady are from
Vermont, and are more than usually intelligent. In
the morning I started alone for Ann Arbor, — thirty
miles by railroad, and ten (the road not being com-
pleted) by stagecoach. I left Detroit at nine A. M.
(after going to the post office and being much disap-
pointed and grieved to find no letter, — please tell the
doctor so), and reached this place about noon. The
location is really delightful, and in a very few years it

80 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1838,

will be the prettiest possible place for a residence.
But I must reserve all particulars until I see you, if I
am allowed that pleasure ; for although there is an at-
tempt to keep me here until after the arrival of Mr.
Davis, the architect, who is to be here in about ten days,
yet I am anxious, deeply anxious, to get back again. If
I wait his arrival I shall necessarily be detained here
until about the 10th of September. It would be desir-
able on many accounts, but — I don't mean to stay.

The grounds for the university are very prettily
situated. The only possible fault I can imagine is
that they are too level. I have contrived a plan for
the arrangement of the grounds which gives satisfac-
tion to the members of the board here, and I think
will suit all. I brought letters to Chief Justice
Fletcher and Judge Wilkins. I spent the evening at
Dr. Den ton's, one of the regents, with several gentle-
men and ladies, married and unmarried. It having
been ascertained that I was unmarried, it was sug-
gested that I might possibly lose my heart ; but I assure
you I was never in less danger. On Sunday attended
the Presbyterian church here. The pastor, an amiable
and very pious old man, was to preach his last sermon
to-day, the people having grown too wise for their
teachers. His morning discourse from the textr
" Christ commended his love to us in that while we
were yet sinners, " etc., — a very good sermon. In the
afternoon his farewell discourse was from Acts xx. 32,
and did honor to his heart. (The stage is ready.)
At twilight I in fancy transported myself to 30 Mac-
Dougal Street, where yourself, the doctor, and the
children were singing your evening hymns. I sang to
myself, as well as I could, all the hymns you were
singing, as I supposed, and wished myself with you.

JET. 27.] TO MRS. TORREY. 81

This morning I have been botanizing, and have se-
cured for the doctor some specimens (clusters of
Eshcol) of this goodly land. So be prepared for a
very favorable report. My pen is abominable, and
I have not another moment.

(DETKOIT), 8.30, Monday evening, August 20.

A pleasant afternoon ride brought me back again
to this place, where my first care was to run to the
post office, nothing doubting that I should find a let-
ter ; but I was wof ully disappointed, and yet it is the
20th of the month ! This is too bad. Do beseech the
doctor to write ; and especially if I should be detained
here until the fourth or fifth day of next month, as I
fear may be necessary, ask him to write every other
day until you hear from me again.

I am glad to get back here again on one account.
The fare here, which is no great matter, I assure you,
is excellent compared with the hotel at Ann Arbor.
Indeed, I have not taken my place at a single dinner-
table for ten days without being reminded of Charles
Lamb and his memorable essay on Roast Pig. Here
he might riot in his favorite dish (which is in my
opinion wretched stuff), as one of the aforesaid juve-
nile quadrupeds, with a sprig of parsley in his mouth,
has been regularly presented to my eyes ever since I
left the State of New York. I am sadly bothered as
to the course I should take. I suppose I might be
able to leave here on Thursday of this week, and, stay-
ing over Sabbath at Oswego (making no stay at the
Falls), arrive at my father's Tuesday evening, and at
New York on Friday morning. But before I could
reach New York, Mr. Davis, according to his appoint-
ment, would be at Detroit, and it is possible that a

82 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1838,

very few days would enable us to settle almost every-
thing about the arrangement of the grounds, the in-
ternal disposition of the university building, and the
plan of professors' houses. I feel so strong a hope
that the doctor will be persuaded to take a professor-
ship that I have fixed upon the place for his house,
should my plan for the arrangement of the grounds
be adopted. And I am very desirous to return to you
with the plans in my hands, that I may submit them
to Dr. T., Prof. Henry, etc., in time to correct our
mistakes and suggest improvements. I see also that
if I leave now (although I have explained that I made
arrangements on leaving to be back by the first of
September, and that it is very necessary I should
return by that time), I should lose much of the in-
fluence I have acquired, and it is more than probable
that some error would be committed that we should
not see in time to rectify.

I am anxious that the proper means should be
adopted to supply the university and houses with
water in abundance, and at such a level that it can be
taken into the second story of the professors' houses ; I
think you may imagine one reason why I am so solicit-
ous about this matter. I was pleased to find on my
arrival here that this subject had already received
much attention, and there is a determination, on the
part of nearly all the regents I have conversed with,
to effect this object at whatever expense. Of the dif-
ferent plans in contemplation only one, I think, will
effectually answer the purpose. I have some hope
that the subject will be acted upon at the first meet-
ing after Mr. Davis arrives. Before that time I sus-
pect we shall not be able to secure the quorum neces-
sary for the transaction of this and other matters of

JST. 27.] TO HIS FA THER. 83

business. I hope also to secure an appropriation for
the library, and philosophical and chemical appa-
ratus. I feel pretty confident of accomplishing this
result by early autumn.

This is my last entire sheet of large paper, so you
may expect no more such tedious letters, unless I find
more like it. But if I do not hear from you, and that
speedily, I shall be very unhappy. Ask Dr. T. to
open any letters that may have come from Norfolk or
Washington, and apprise me of the contents, or take
any steps that become necessary. Adieu, my dear
friend. May our Heavenly Father bless and keep you
and yours is the sincere prayer of your attached,

A. GRAY.

TO DR. TROWBRIDGE.

NEW YORK, October 1, 1838.

DEAR DOCTOR, — My arrangements are now so far
completed that I may say, with as much confidence as
we may speak of any event subject to ordinary con-
tingencies, that I hope to sail for London on the first
of next month. I am of course hard at work ; there is
no need to tell you that. The second part of " Flora "
we hope, by hard work, to have published about the
20th inst. Yours truly,

A. GRAY.

TO HIS FATHER.

NEW YORK, November 7, 1838.

I expect to sail to-morrow for Liverpool in the
packet-ship Pennsylvania, unless the weather should
prove unfavorable, which is not unlikely. The sailing
has already been postponed one day, much to my relief,
as, although I have not taken off my clothes for two

84 EARLY UNDERTAKINGS. [1838.

nights, I am not yet quite ready. I hope to get every-
thing in order before I sleep. You can write to me
readily at any time.

I have worked very hard for a few weeks past, but I
shall now have a fine time to rest. I am in very good
health and spirits.

Mrs. Torrey has a fine boy a few weeks old, and is
doing well. Kind remembrances to all, in haste,

Good-by, A. G.

TO HIS MOTHER.

SHIP PENNSYLVANIA, 9th November, 1838.
MY DEAR MOTHER, — These few lines will be sent
on shore in a few minutes by the pilot, and will soon
reach you. We shall be out of sight of land in less
than two hours more, with a fine breeze. The ship
has some motion, but I am not at all sick yet. We
have a fine ship and every prospect of a speedy voy-
age. I shall write at once from Liverpool. Good-by
again to all. Letters are called for. Good-by; re-
member me in your prayers.

Your affectionate son, A. GRAY.

CHAPTER III.

FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE.

1838-1839.

IT has been deemed expedient to give a somewhat
fuller narrative of Dr. Gray's first visit to Europe
than of his subsequent ones. It was then that he
formed many personal acquaintances which ripened
into lifelong friendships, and received his first im-
pressions of scenes in nature and art which were to
become very familiar. His letters home took the form
of a very detailed journal, and it is in extracts from
this journal, supplemented by letters to other friends,
that this narrative consists.

JOURNAL.

ADELPHI HOTEL, LIVERPOOL, 12 M., December 1, 1838.
We came up the Channel with a gentle breeze, and
anchored at half-past nine. At ten minutes past ten
I set my feet on the soil (or rather the stone) of Old
England. We were very fortunate in our ship, hav-
ing made our voyage in twenty-one days ; while the
England (in which, you may remember, I once had in-
tended to sail), which left New York on the first of
November, came to anchor just ten minutes before us
(thirty days). The Garrick, which sailed on the
twenty-fifth of October, arrived here only on Saturday.
I must close this letter early in the morning. . . .

86 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1838,

Evening. — This short English day has been occu-
pied in good part in getting my luggage from the ship
and through the custom house. I sallied out a little
past nine in the morning ; went first of all to a tailor
and ordered a coat (which is to be finished and de-
livered this evening) ; then dispatched my letters for
home by the United States ; found our own ship just
going into dock (what docks they are ! but as we
have always plenty of water we do not so much need
them in New York) ; arranged my luggage, and then
proceeded all hands to the custom house (a large
new building, rather imposing in appearance), where
I was detained until past three o'clock. I had fifteen
pounds of books to pay duty upon (fifteen shillings),
and nothing to complain of as to the manner of the
examination. . . . After dinner, visited the market,
which on Saturday evening is full and busy. It is
about twice the size of all the New York markets put
together, and a sight well worth seeing. I examined
everything scrutinizingly, but will not trouble you
with my observations. . . .

Sunday evening, December 2. — Went this morn-
ing to the chapel of the school for the blind. The
chanting and singing was very fine, and the sight an
interesting one. But to me the solemnity of the
church service is by no means increased by being
chanted ; heard a tolerable sermon. In the evening
heard Dr. Raffles.1 His chapel is a gloomy structure
externally, but very neat and comfortable within. Dr.
R. preached the first of a series of discourses " On the
most remarkable events in the early history of the
Israelites," commencing with the bondage in Egypt,

1 Dr. Thomas Raffles ; a distinguished Congregational clergyman
in Liverpool from 1812 to 1863.

MT. 28.] JOURNAL. 87

which was the subject this evening; a very good
sermon, delivered in an impressive (but rather pom-
pous) manner. I am very anxious to get to Glasgow.
I have been living in society, for the last three weeks,
by no means to my taste, and most of them are still
here. It is not very pleasant to spend a Sabbath
alone at a hotel ; but I suppose I must needs become
accustomed to it.

I was not fully aware, until yesterday, how much
cause we had for thankfulness at our safe arrival. The
gales which we encountered off the Irish coast have
caused a great number of shipwrecks, and it is feared
that many lives are lost. The England escaped most
narrowly.

Feather's Inn, Chester, Monday evening. — I have,
my dear friend, the singular pleasure of writing and
addressing to you another leaf of my journal from a
city which was founded, according to the directory
which lies before me, " in the year, 917 B. c., at which
time Jehosaphat and Ahab governed Israel and
Judah," — the only walled and fortified city in Eng-
land of which the walls are yet in a state of preserva-
tion. The city was rebuilt by Julius Caesar, and was
an important Roman station ; and there yet remain
many vestiges of Roman occupancy ; a hypocaust is
still to be seen under the hotel in which I am now
staying, — so it is said, for I have not yet seen it,
having arrived here after dark. But I expect to be
very much interested in this queer old town, for which
I owe thanks to Dr. Torrey, since it was his recom-
mendation that induced me to come here. I have
scampered about the streets this evening, bought some
lithographic views, studied the directory, and am pre-
pared for a busy day between Chester and Eaton

88 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1838,

Hall, should I live till to-morrow. But it is time I
should tell you briefly how I got here. This morning
soon after breakfast I walked out to the Botanic
Garden, delivered a note of introduction to Shep-
herd,1 who received me rather politely, inquired after
Dr. Torrey, and showed me through the greenhouses.
The establishment is not where it was when Dr. T.
was here, but was removed further out of town, two
or three years ago. The garden occupies eleven acres ;
the site is well chosen ; but being newly planted there
is of course little to see. The hothouses are very
well, but not extensive ; the collections not particu-
larly interesting, except for some old plants that have
belonged to the establishment many years.

I took my cloak and umbrella (necessary articles
these !), and at 3 P. M. crossed the Mersey in a small un-
comfortable black steamboat, about as much inferior
to our Hoboken or Brooklyn ferry-boats as a Barne-
gat wood-schooner is to a packet-ship ; and at Birk-
enhead took an outside seat for Chester (ten miles),
though it rained often and blew hard and cold ; had
a good view of the country until about five miles from
Chester, when it grew dark ; saw little villages, farm-
houses and cottages, cows, etc., all of which is much
more interesting to me than the smoky town of Liver-
pool. I have seen several little things that are new
to me. Let us see what I can recollect at the mo-
ment. Hedges of holly — those I am pleased with,
particularly when sheared and clipped. The prettiest
fence is a stone wall over-topped with a close hedge of
holly. Ivy in profusion covering great walls, trees,
etc., etc., — we have nothing to compare with it ; a

1 John Shepherd, b. 1764. For thirty-five years at the Liverpool
Botanic Garden.

JET. 28.] JOURNAL. 89

flock of rooks, — very like crows, but larger ; an
English stagecoach, — more of that anon ; a coach and
four with postilions, — fine. But I must stop
here.

P. S. — Liverpool again, Tuesday evening. — I have
accomplished a good day's work to-day. Rose early,
made the circuit of the city of Chester on the walls
before breakfast, explored all about the town ; visited
the cathedral, walked to Eaton Hall, four miles and
back again ; and then, finding there was no coach in
the morning until nine o'clock, took an evening coach,
and returned here ten p. M., much gratified, but a
little fatigued ; so good-night. A. GT.

GLASGOW (WOODSIDE CRESCENT), December 12, 1838.

I do not just now feel like a traveler. I have been
for almost a week, if not at home, yet the next thing
to it, in the truly hospitable mansion of our good
friends here, where I was received with that cor-
dial kindness which you, having experienced before
me, can well understand. Indeed I owe it chiefly to
you, who I assure you are not forgotten here. Ecce
signum. Both Sir William and Lady Hooker call me,
oftener than anything else, by the name of Dr.
Torrey. I answer to the name promptly, and am
much flattered to be your representative.

I have just stuck fast here, busy among the plants
from morning till night. I have been out of the house
but twice (except to church on Sunday) : once a walk
into town with Mr. Hooker, Senior (kind and amiable
old man, who insists upon taking me about, and show-
ing me whatever he showed you), and once with Sir
William to the Botanic Garden. I am anxious to im-
prove every moment here, where there is so much to

90 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1838,

be done and such ample means. Arnott has written,
inviting me to spend some time with him, which I
hope to do, visiting him from Edinburgh, there being
now no coach to Stirling or Kinross, from Glasgow
direct. . . . Sir William has given me many interest-
ing plants ; we have settled many points of interest.
He had our new Nuttallia all figured for the Supple-
ment to "Flora Borealis Americana" as a new genus,
and we have recently found it among plants from the
Snake country, which, with Douglas's and other Cali-
fornian plants, he is publishing as a supplement to
" Beechey's Voyage." I begged him to adopt the
name Nuttallia. He offered at once to publish it as of
Torrey and Gray, but I would not consent to this, and
I am sure you would agree with me. He has in dif-
ferent ways a great share of NuttalTs so far, — Pick-
eringia for instance (which is a shrubby Baptisia),
Kentrophyta, etc. I shall be kept here ten days
longer, I think ; no one else abroad is so rich in North
American botany or takes so much interest in it. I
am requested to study all his Sandwich Island plants
(including my own parcel here), and make an article
for the " Annals of Natural History " while here. I
think I will, if on looking over the parcels I think I
can do the subject justice. Can't Knieskern l safely
make the excursion to Sante Fe in the coming spring ?
If he can, and will work hard, he will make $1000
clear of expenses! All the collectors make money.
Hooker is very anxious about it. I hope to find the

1 Peter D. Knieskern, M. D., 1798-1871. " Botanized over the
pine-barrens of New Jersey with utmost assiduity and skill, a simple-
hearted, unpretendingly good and faithful man. . . . Few botanists
have excelled him in their knowledge of the plants of the region in
which he resided, and none in zeal, simplicity, and love of science for
its own sake." —A. G.

^T. 28.] TO JOHN TORREY. 91

fifty copies of " Flora " at Wiley & Putnam's on reach-
ing London. I hope you have seen the partner at
New York on the subject, and that the " Flora " will
be advertised fully in London before I reach there.
But I must close. Don't fail to write very often. Sir
William and Lady Hooker and all the family, old,
young, and middle-aged, all send their most affection-
ate regards. I sit over against your portrait at din-
ner. It is very like you. . . .

TO JOHN TORREY.
KINROSS, Wednesday evening1, January 2, 1839.

My journal will inform you of all my movements
and doings, and also of the arrival of your welcome
letter by the Liverpool, while I remained at Sir
William's. I am much distressed at the thought of
your anticipated engagements with Princeton, and
wish very much that you could have felt yourself
warranted in delaying until after the expected meet-
ing of the regents of the Michigan university, which
was to take place on the 10th of December. While
there is the slightest hope remaining I do not like
to relinquish the thought that we may hereafter work
together and live near each other. The fear that this
may not be the case has of late rendered me much
more anxious to obtain books and specimens, in order
that I may get on by myself in case I shall be com-
pelled to work alone. I need not attempt to tell
you how much I have enjoyed my visit to Hooker.
He is truly one of Nature's noblemen. We worked
very hard for twenty days, and I would have been
glad to have stayed as much longer ; for as yet I have
looked into few books. All the collections of Carex
placed in Boott's hands have been returned to Hooker,

92 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

and I assisted him in arranging them and selecting
for his herbarium ; in the course of which I have
obtained specimens of nearly all the Northern and
Oregonian ones, including one or two which have
come in recently, of which I have, when there were
duplicates, specimens also for you. The return num-
bers of those sent you were in many cases strangely
misplaced, and Boott has often been sadly confounded.
He has studied the genus very critically, hypercriti-
cally I may say; for he makes new species where we
should think there were too many already. We went
over Hooker's Grasses in the same way, and I have
obtained numerous specimens and much useful infor-
mation which we shall presently require. On Christ-
mas day Joseph Hooker selected from a large Van
Dieman's Land collection a suite of specimens as far
as they have been studied (to Calyciflorae), in which
there is in almost every instance a specimen for each
of us. . . .

In looking over the recent collections from the
Snake country, and Douglas's Californian, I recog-
nized a great portion of NuttalTs, 1 but by no means
all. There was a single specimen of Kentrophyta in
excellent fruit; another of Astrophia, with neither
flower or fruit, collected long ago by Scouler and
mixed in with a species of Hosackia, to which genus
I am not sure that it is not nearly allied. Nuttall has
made too many Hosackias ! The copy of " Flora,"
with my notes, has gone round to London, so that I
cannot now communicate many curious things noted
in the second part. But how did we overlook the

1 Thomas Nuttall, 1784-1859 ; a great traveler and explorer. Came
to the United States in 1807. His writing's are intimately connected
with the development of North American botany.

^T. 28.] TO JOHN TORRE Y. 93

Hosackia crassif olia twice over ! I am glad you have
the fruit of Chapmannia. I am a little afraid of Sty-
losanthes, of which there is a sort of monograph by
Vogel in the current volume of the " Linnaea ; " but no
plurifoliate ones appear. Hooker has a curious new
genus of Chenopodiacese, from the Kocky Mountains,
figured for the " Icones," which he wishes to call
Grayia! I am quite content with a Pig-weed; and
this is a very queer one.

At Glasgow, although my stay was prolonged to
twenty days, I was unable in that time to accomplish
all I wished with Hooker ; and you may be sure we
lost no time, and that I could spare very little to visit
those objects of interest passing by. I did not omit,
however, as you may well suppose, to visit the High
Church (the old Cathedral), where I spent an inter-
esting hour, having contrived to go there alone that
I might enjoy myself in my own way. From this .1
visited the new cemetery, which occupies the summit
of a hill adjacent to and overlooking the Cathedral.
On the very summit, raised on a tall column, is a co-
lossal figure of old John Knox in the attitude of
preaching, but ever and anon he seems to cast a scowl-
ing look down upon the Cathedral, as if he were in-
clined to make another attempt to demolish its walls.
And well he might, for if what I hear be true, I fancy
he would find the preaching now heard within its
walls almost as destitute of savor as when the shrine
of the Virgin Mary occupied its place in the chapel
which bears her name. The Cathedral is now under-
going some repairs ; the seats, etc., for the church
which occupied the nave are taken away, so that the
fine nave presents nearly the original appearance.
But the crypt, said to be the finest in the kingdom,

94 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

is now closed and the key in the possession of an
architect at Edinburgh, so that I could not obtain
admittance. It was in this place, perchance you
may recollect, that the first meeting of Rob Roy with
Osbaldistone took place. My Scotch reminiscences
have been greatly revived to-day. To-day I have for
the first time seen and tasted — only tasted — the
two Scotch national dishes, viz., singed sheep's head
and a haggis !

I had arranged to leave Glasgow on the morning
after Christmas, when Sir William insisted on my
staying at least over Wednesday to sit for my por-
trait ! I contrived, however, to sit on Tuesday (Christ-
mas day), when I was done in about four hours, in the
same style as Sir William's other botanical portraits,
and with so much success that it was unanimously
proclaimed to be a most striking likeness ; in fact the
most successful of all the artist's attempts are said to
be this and that of Dr. Torrey, by whose side, it seems,
I am destined to be suspended ! — a compliment with
which I may well feel highly gratified. I believe it is
a capital likeness.

I dined out only once at Glasgow, at the house of
Mr. Davidson, a very rich don who has made all his
money in business here.

Late in the day I went into town to secure a place
in the early coach for Stirling and also a bed for the
night, as well as to select some little Christmas pres-
ents for the Misses Hooker. In the evening Sir Wil-
liam had several friends to dinner, and soon after the
breaking up of the evening party I took my leave of
these kind friends with no small regret ; my contem-
plated visit of ten days has been prolonged to just twice
that number. And now, as we have fairly bid adieu

J5T.28.] JOURNAL. 95

to the old year, I must also bid good-by to you for
the present, wishing you, not as the mere compliment
of the season, but with all my heart and soul, — a
happy New Year. The last New Year I well remem-
ber ; several of its predecessors also I have had the
pleasure of spending with you. I pray God we may
be preserved and have a happy meeting before another
new year comes.

JOURNAL.

KINROSS, Wednesday Evening, January 2, 1839.

I left Glasgow at seven o'clock A. M. on the morn-
ing of the 26th December, on the top of a stage-coach
bound for Stirling, so famous in song and story, —
distant about thirty miles from Glasgow. I arrived
about half past ten, in the midst of a heavy rain.

On leaving Stirling for Perth, I took an inside
place, as the storm still continued, but it shortly
cleared up, and I rode on the outside nearly the whole
journey. The only place worth noticing, or rather
which I have time to notice, through which we passed
was Dumblane, which is just one of those dirty Scotch
villages which defy description. If " Jessie the flower
of Dumblane " lived in one of these comfortless and
wretched hovels I '11 warrant her charms are much
overpraised in the song. Here I saw for the first
time a genuine ruin ; that of the large and once im-
portant Cathedral, founded in 1142. During the
short-lived establishment of Episcopacy in Scotland I
think that the good Leighton was for a time rector
of Dumblane. Just beyond Dumblane we passed the
field of Sheriff-muir, and beyond this, at the little
village of Ardoch, I passed, without being aware at
the time, the finest and most entire Roman camp in

96 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

Britain ; we passed some fine country-seats on the
road ; had a long way the distant Grampian Hills,
on which " my father fed his flocks," in full view ;
and somewhat late in a fine moonlight evening I ar-
rived at Perth. As the stage which passed Arlary
left Perth at nine o'clock in the morning, and I could
not afford to spend a day here, I of course saw little
of this famous town. ... A pleasant ride brought
me to Arlary at eleven o'clock A. M., and Arnott was
by the roadside awaiting my arrival. I was sorry to
learn that he is not a general favorite among his
brother botanists ; but although most of them possess
greater advantages, he has but one superior in Great
Britain, and in most departments very few equals.
He received me with great kindness, and I have spent
a few days with him very pleasantly indeed. He is a
hearty, good fellow, and improves vastly on acquain-
tance. I was exceedingly pleased with Mrs. Arnott,
who is exceedingly amiable and lively. On Sunday it
stormed terribly, so that we were unable to leave the
house. On Tuesday I dined with Mr. and Mrs.
Arnott, Mr. Wemyss, the clergyman of the parish, an-
other clergyman, etc., at Mr. Barclay's, Arnott's
father-in-law, about six miles from Arlary. About
one o'clock to-day, taking leave of Mrs. A. I rode
with Arnott to Kinross, and leaving Arnott to write
some letters at the hotel in the mean time, I took a
boat to Loch Leven Castle, — the prison of the lovely
and ill-fated Mary Queen of Scots. . . .

On returning to the hotel I found that Arnott had
picked up the dominie of his parish, and had our din-
ner in readiness. The expected coach arrived soon
after, but was crowded. I am consequently obliged to
wait for the mail which passes about two o'clock in the

JET. 28.] JOURNAL. 97

morning, and by which, if I am so fortunate as to
obtain a seat, I may expect to reach Edinburgh be-
fore daybreak.

WATERLOO HOTEL, EDINBURGH,
Thursday evening, January 3, 1839.

This is my first day in Auld Reekie ; and my first
business, on sitting down by my quiet and comfortable
fireside, shall be to give you a brief account of this
day's work. After taking a reasonable modicum of
tea I spent the whole of last evening at Kinross in
writing, until two o'clock, at which hour the mail-
coach punctually made its appearance ; and there was
fortunately room inside. We drew up at the post
office at Edinburgh at half past six in the morning
(raining as usual). I took possession of a very com-
fortable, even elegant room, very different from the
six feet by nine bedrooms of most hotels. This is the
finest hotel I have yet seen ; the Adelphi at Liverpool
is not to be mentioned in comparison. I threw myself
on the bed and slept for an hour or two. On waking
I drew up the curtains of my windows, arid had all at
once a magnificent view of this picturesque city, which
startled me. From descriptions and a few prints I
have somewhere seen I find I had formed a very cor-
rect view of this city, as far as it went. It is the finest
town I have seen or expect soon to see. It owes much
of its beauty to its peculiar site, and to the manner in
which the old town acts as a foil to the new. Imme-
diately after breakfast I sallied forth, walked down the
street, uncertain which of my letters of introduction I
should first attempt to deliver ; decided for Greville ; l

1 Robert K. Greville, M. D., 1794-1866; author of Scottish Cryp- 9
togamic Flora, Flora Edinensis, and Algce Britannicce.

98 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

so I crossed the North Bridge, which is thrown not
over a river but over a part of the town, into the old
town, crossed High Street, passed the huge block
of buildings occupied by the university, plain and
heavy without, but the spacious court within very im-
posing ; and a few minutes' walk brought me to Dr.
Greville's residence, which looks in front upon a large
public square, and on the other the green fields
extend up almost to the house, — a complete rus in
urbe. Dr. Greville received me very kindly, and
seemed well pleased to receive Dr. Torrey's letter ;
made many affectionate inquiries, and urged me to
stay with him while I remained in town. I was pre-
determined to decline all invitations of this kind in
Edinburgh, but found I could give no reasons for
doing so that would not seem strange. Dr. Gre-
ville said he well knew I should be obliged to stay
either with him or Dr. Graham,1 who would never
let me off ; so, as I thought Dr. Greville would prove
the most useful and edifying acquaintance, I ac-
cepted his invitation and promised to send my lug-
gage sometime to-morrow. We set out to call on
Professor Graham ; walked over into the New Town,
the squares, rows, terraces, and crescents all very fine ;
called at Professor G.'s, who was as usual out ; left
Dr. Torrey's letter and my own card. Left to myself
again, after promising to meet Dr. Greville at dinner
at the house of a friend of his, I directed my steps to
the Castle, which, crowning a high cliff much like that
of Stirling, nearly or quite perpendicular except on
one side, is visible from almost every part of the
city. . . . Walked far away to Inverleith Terrace to

J Robert Graham, M. D., 1786-1845 ; professor of botany in the
University of Edinburgh.

MT. 28.] JOURNAL. 99

leave my letters for Mr. Nicoll ; l returned, dressed for
dinner, passed an agreeable humdrum evening at a
small family party ; returned to the hotel, read two
American newspapers (little news), found a good fire
in my room, and sat down to make these desultory
notes. As to all the rest of what I have seen I may
have more to say another day. Good-night !

ST. GEORGE'S SQUARE, 12 M., January 4, 1839.
Before I retire to rest I must hastily and very
briefly record my doings to-day, just by way of keep-
ing in good habits ; as I am engaged to breakfast at
an early hour with Dr. Graham I must soon go to
bed. Rose at half past nine (recollect I had not slept
the previous night), — a snowstorm. Sight-seeing
being out of the question, went to the university, just
in time to hear the latter part of Dr. Hope's lecture
(Light Carburetted Hydrogen and Safety Lamp) ;-
fine-studied and rather formal manner, — did not
wear his gown or ruffles at the wrist ! Experiments
few but rather neat. In cutting off flame with wire
gauze he varied the experiment in a way I had not
previously seen, viz., by throwing a jet of ether upon
the gauze, which burnt below but did not kindle
above, — a very pretty effect. He looks to be not
above sixty-five, although he must be ten years over
that age. Next heard Professor Forbes,2 a handsome
man of very elegant appearance ; a most elegant and
lucid lecturer ; delivered my note of introduction from
Professor Silliman ; received me very kindly, but I

1 William Nicoll. Invented section-cutting of recent and fossil
woods in 1827.

2 James Forbes, 1809-1861 ; professor of natural philosophy in the
University of Edinburgh.

100 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [18^9.

was obliged to leave at once to hear a lecture from
Professor Wilson, the famous Christopher North, one
of the most extraordinary men living, very eccentric,
a gifted genius, and a man of the most wonderful ver-
satility of powers. The subject to-day was the Asso-
ciation of Ideas. The lecture was rather striking,
original in manner, with a few flights of that peculiar
eloquence which you would expect from Christopher
North. Next heard Dr. Monro (Anatomy) ; very
prosy ; the class behaved shockingly, even for medical
students ! Lastly I heard Professor Jameson,1 a
stiff, ungainly, forbidding-looking man, who gave us
the most desperately dull, doleful lecture I ever heard.
It was just like a copious table of contents to a book,
— just about as interesting as reading a table of con-
tents for an hour would be; I may add just as in-
structive ! Dined in a quiet way with Dr. Pardie, a
young physician to whom I brought a letter from
James Hogg ; his wife is a cousin of James ; went
from the table to the college to hear a botanical lecture
from Professor Graham ; returned to tea and spent the
evening. I found I had quite unexpectedly met with
profitable acquaintance, as Dr. and Mrs. Pardie were
active and ardent Christians, of the Baptist persua-
sion, and people of a very delightful spirit. They
were well acquainted with Mr. Cheever of Salem, who
spent some time in Edinburgh previous to his journey
to Palestine. I passed a very pleasant evening, and
promised to call on them again before leaving town.
Returned in the midst of a violent snowstorm to Dr.
Greville's, where I am now domesticated, having sent
up my baggage from the hotel.

1 Robert Jameson, 1774-1854 ; professor of natural history in the
University of Edinburgh.

/ET. 28.] JOURNAL. 101

Saturday evening. — Rose this morning at half past
seven ; and at half past eight, according to engage-
ment, went over to the other side of the town with Dr.
Greville, to breakfast with Dr. Graham, and then visit
the Botanical Garden (deep snow). We looked about
the garden, or rather the greenhouses, until afternoon ;
much gratified with the splendid collections ; but the
Sabbath draws nigh, and I cannot go on to tell you
more about it now. Called on Mr. Nicoll on my re-
turn ; made a provisional engagement to meet him at
breakfast on Monday and examine his sections of
woods. Ran about the streets; left a note at the
house of Arnott's brother, to make arrangements (as
we have done) for visiting Parliament House, etc., on
Monday ; returned to Greville's, dressed for dinner,
and looked over books, etc., until Professor Graham
and Dr. Balfour,1 secretary of the Botanical Society,
arrived ; dined ; passed a pleasant evening; after family
worship had a little conversation with Dr. Greville,
retired to my room, and now, as I am at the bottom
of the page and my watch says ten minutes to twelve,
— to bed. Adieu.

Monday evening. — Two days have passed since I
have taken up my pen to communicate to you my
little diary. I still remain domesticated at Dr. Gre-
ville's, where I am received with the greatest kindness,
and am as happy as I can be away from home. I like
Dr. G. and family much, there is so much true Chris-
tian feeling and simplicity. Dr. G. seems much to
regret that he was unable to meet Dr. Torrey in Edin-
burgh. Yesterday was the first Sabbath of the new
year, and I heard two sermons adapted to the season ;

1 John Button Balfour, M. D., 1808-1885 ; professor of botany in
Glasgow, and afterwards in the University of Edinburgh.

102 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

one in the morning, in an Episcopal chapel (the one
to which this family belong) from Mr. Drummond,
the text being the latter clause of Hebrews viii. 13 ;
a most excellent, faithful, and godly sermon. In the
afternoon I occupied a seat Dr. Greville was so kind
as to secure for me in the Old Greyfriars (Scotch)
Church, which is so crowded that without this precau-
tion you can hardly expect to get into the church
when Dr. Guthrie preaches. He is the most striking
preacher I ever heard. I could not help comparing
him with Whitfield. The text was the first clause of
Eccles. ii. 11. I dare not attempt to give you any
idea of the discourse. I wish you could have heard
it. In this church-yard the remains of the early mar-
tyrs of Scotland repose, not far from the Grass-
market, where they were mostly offered up. I stood
upon the very spot to-day where they suffered. We
had a terrible wind all last night, which, with the rain,
carried off nearly all the snow. The morning was so
stormy that I could not fulfill my conditional engage-
ment to breakfast with Mr. Nicoll and look at his
curiosities. So I repaired to the university at ten ;
heard Sir Charles Bell,1 the professor of surgery, — a
decent lecturer, but not remarkable. At eleven I
heard the celebrated Dr. Chalmers, the professor of
divinity. The old man has a heavy, strongly-marked
Scotch countenance, which, however, brightens very
much when he is engaged in his discourse. His man-
ner is rather inelegant and his dialect broad Scotch
and peculiar. But the matter is so rich that he
carries all before him. Every word is full of thought,

1 Sir Charles Bell, 1774-1842 ; a very distinguished surgeon ; author
of Anatomy of Expression and many celebrated works. He accepted
the chair of surgery at Edinburgh, 1836.

*:T. 28.] JOURNAL. 103

and he occasionally rose to a very powerful eloquence.
He is much beloved, and is considered by all parties,
perhaps, as the strong man of Scotland. The subject
of his lecture this morning was the advantage (and
the abuse) of Scripture criticism. It was a treat to
hear him. He paid a high compliment, in the course
of his remarks, to our Moses Stuart.

The weather growing by this time more tolerable, I
walked about town, — visited the Parliament House,
the Library of the Writers to the Signet ; passed
through the Grassmarket, returned here, looked at
plants with Dr. Greville ; dined ; received a parcel
from Sir William Hooker containing a few plants
I had accidentally left (a few he had given me). A
very kind letter informed me that he would be in
London about the same time with me (which I had
in part expected, and about which hangs a tale I
must write soon), and also a fine parcel of letters of
introduction for me, both to persons on the way to
London, and also on the Continent, — to Delessert,
De Candolle, Martius, Endlicher, Humboldt, etc.
Truly he is a kind man ; he has laid me under lasting
obligations. He asks me to say to Dr. Torrey that
his Grace of Bedford is anxious to receive also the
Hudsonia ericoides from New Jersey, and he will be
greatly obliged if he will send a box of it to Woburn
early in the spring. Attended this evening a meet-
ing of the Royal Society, Dr. Abercrombie 1 (author
of " Intellectual Powers," etc.) in the chair. Dr. A.
is at the head of the profession here ; is greatly es-
teemed, and is a most exemplary Christian. An inter-
esting paper was read by Professor Forbes, of whom

1 John Abercrombie, M. D., 1781-1844; celebrated Scotch phy-
sician and author.

104 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

I have spoken before ; a man whom from his very
youthful appearance you could never have imagined as
the successful candidate to the professor's chair against
Dr. Brewster. But Dr. Brewster is no favorite in
Edinburgh. Other distinguished men were there. I
was introduced to Professor Christison,1 had some
pleasant conversation ; promised, if practicable, to
hear him lecture to-morrow at nine A. M., and look at
his museum of materia medica. We had tea after
the adjournment, according to the usual custom here,
which is a very pleasant one. I only count upon two
days more in Edinburgh, and have yet much to do.
I am anxious to reach London, where I hope there are
letters for me. Good-night. May God bless you all,
and keep you.

MELKOSE, January 10, 1839, Thursday evening.

On the 8th inst., Tuesday, I went immediately
after breakfast to the university and heard Professor
Christison' s lecture, Materia Medica. He is an ex-
cellent lecturer. I spent a half hour with him, in
looking over his cabinet of preparations, which con-
tains a large number of fruits, etc., preserved in
strong brine instead of spirits. I acquired some use-
ful information concerning the best way to close the
jars, for which he has some very neat plans. Then
I heard Professor Forbes again; elegant as usual,
but he did not succeed very well in his experiments.
The next hour I had a rich treat. I heard another
lecture from Professor Wilson, on the Association of
Ideas, which on this occasion he noticed in a more
practical view than before. He recited, in his glow-

1 Sir Robert Christison, 1798-1882; professor of materia medica
in the University of Edinburgh.

JET. 28.] JOURNAL. 105

ing manner, several passages from Virgil, and a long
one from Milton, and gave a long and most eloquent
analytic commentary upon each, far exceeding any-
thing of the kind I ever heard before. After visiting
the library of the university — a most magnificent
room — I set out for Holyrood House. ... I bought
one or two poor prints, a cast of the seal-ring of
Mary, plucked a bit of holly from a bush standing
by the place by the altar before which Mary was
married to Bothwell, and reluctantly took my leave.
There was yet some time remaining, so I set out to
climb Arthur's Seat, which rises abruptly behind Salis-
bury Crags to the height of eight or nine hundred
feet. I attained my wish, and had a beautiful view,
from the summit, of the city beneath my feet, and
the wide country around. I descended more rapidly
than I went up, though at some risk to my neck. Re-
turned to Dr. Greville's, where I dined and spent all
the evening.

I had engaged yesterday to breakfast with Dr. Gra-
ham. I therefore set off early for that purpose ; after-
ward accompanied him to the Garden, examined the
grounds, etc., passed some time in the splendid palm-
house. I spent some portion of the morning also with
Mr. Nicoll, examining with the microscope his beauti-
ful collection of recent and fossil wood in thin slices ;
learned how to prepare them. Then arranged my
affairs to leave Edinburgh in the morning. In the
evening Dr. Greville and myself dined with Mr. Wil-
son (gentleman naturalist), the brother of the gifted
Professor Wilson ; himself almost equally gifted, but
with a more healthy tone of mind. He interested us
so much that our stay was prolonged until nearly the
" wee short hour ayont the twal," when we parted,

106 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

after a pressing invitation to visit him at his country
residence in case I ever visited Scotland at a more
pleasant season. Taking leave of my kind friends the
Grevilles, I was early this morning on my way to Mel-
rose. I have been received with the utmost kindness,
not only by this agreeable and most excellent family,
but among all the acquaintance I have made in Ed-
inburgh. I had purchased for you a collection of
hymns, etc., edited by Dr. Greville and his pastor, Mr.
Drummond, with which I was very much pleased, and
doubt not you would like them much. But Dr. Gre-
ville saw it, and afterwards insisted on sending a much
handsomer copy to Dr. Torrey, which was accord-
ingly placed in my hands for him. Melrose is about
thirty-six miles from Edinburgh, on one of the routes
to Newcastle. We came upon the Tweed among a
rugged range of hills, at first a very small stream ;
followed it along the sinuous valley for a long way,
until it became a pretty considerable river, for Great
Britain ; at length the valley grew wider, softer, and in
the proper season, doubtless very beautiful. A smaller
stream joined it at some distance before us, and as
its opening vale came into view, the driver — I beg his
pardon, coachman — pointed with his whip to the op-
posite side and said, " Abbotsford ; " and true enough
the turrets of this quaint castellated house were distin-
guishable, in the midst of a grove mostly of Scott's
own planting, near the banks of the Yarrow. We
soon after crossed the Tweed, at the place where
the White Lady frightened the sacristan in "The
Monastery ; " the scene of which, you know, was laid
at Melrose and in the neighborhood. The fine old
ruin of Melrose Abbey now came into view, half
surrounded by a dirty little Scotch village. Here I

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 107

abandoned the coach until to-morrow, secured a gig,
and was soon on my way to Abbotsf ord. ... I walked
back from Abbotsf ord, noticing more particularly the
beauty of the valley, and the fine Eildon Hills which
rise behind Melrose, from whose summit, it is said, a
very beautiful prospect may be obtained. I then
spent the remainder of the afternoon about Melrose
Abbey, the most beautiful ruin I have ever seen or
expect to see; more beautiful than I had imagined,
and just in that state of dilapidation in which it ap-
pears to the greatest advantage as a ruin, for were it
entire it would be indeed magnificent. I feel now as
if I should never care to see another ruin of the kind ;
and therefore I shall not visit Dryburgh Abbey (where
Scott is buried), as I had intended ; although I suppose
we shall pass by nearly in sight of it to-morrow. I
wish I could bring you some sketch or print that
would give you some idea of Melrose, but I fear this
is impossible. The exquisite carvings in stone, espe-
cially, cannot be appreciated until they are seen. It is
said (I forget the lines) that Melrose should be seen
by moonlight, and this I can well imagine ; but this
evening there is neither moonlight nor starlight. . . .

DURHAM, Saturday evening, January 12, 1839.

Soon leaving the Tweed we crossed a range of
hills, and came down into the fertile Teviotdale, so
famous in border story. Again leaving this valley,
we wound our way up the Jedwater, a tributary of
the Teviot, rising high up in the Cheviot Hills, just
on the line between England and Scotland. We
passed Jedburgh, a Scotch village of considerable size
and importance, dirty and comfortless of course. Here
is an old abbey, which I should have been loth to

108 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

pass by had I not seen Melrose ; thence we ascended
the Jed for many a weary mile, until we reached its
source high among the Cheviot Hills. Our course
was literally " over the mountain and over the moor,"
for after a tedious ascent we crossed the boundary
line at an elevation of fifteen hundred feet above the
level of the sea. We were by this time thoroughly
drenched with mist and rain ; the wind forbidding the
use of our umbrellas. We immediately commenced
our descent, and just at dusk stopped for a hasty din-
ner at Otterbourne, so famous in the history of the bor-
der warfare as the place of the memorable Chevy Chase.
It was too dark to see the cross erected to mark the
spot where Percy fell. Pass we over the ride from
this to Newcastle, as we saw nothing, though we passed
near some places of interest, — Chillingham, the resi-
dence of the Earl of Tankerville, for example, — and
arrived at Newcastle about nine o'clock in the even-
ing. In the morning I delivered notes of introduc-
tion from Hooker and Greville to George Wailes, Esq.,
one of the active members of the Newcastle Natural
History Society ; visited their fine building and really
splendid museum, especially rich in fossil remains
and also in the British birds ; made arrangements
for correspondence and exchange with the Michi-
gan State Survey; was introduced to a botanist
or two ; visited the castle built by Robert, brother of
William the Conqueror, if I recollect aright, which
has stood firmly for many a year, and may stand for
centuries more, or as long as the world standeth. . . .
Arrived at Durham at eight in the evening. I called
almost immediately upon Professor Johnston1 and

1 James T. W. Johnston, 1796-1865; agricultural chemist; pro-
fessor at Durham. Lectured in the United States.

JET. 28.] JOURNAL. 109

delivered Doctor Torrey's letter and parcel, when we
recognized each other as fellow-passengers in the coach
from Newcastle, he being a Scotch gentleman, — look-
ing very like my friend Couthouy of the exploring
expedition, — whom I was far from imagining would
prove to be the professor in the Durham Univer-
sity ; took my tea and spent the greater part of
the evening with him. He told me he was just about
to send a parcel to Doctor Torrey by a friend going
next week to America. I must embrace this oppor-
tunity to send my letters, now forming a somewhat
bulky parcel. . . .

Spent Monday with Professor Johnston in his lab-
oratory, witnessing the progress of some analyses of
resins, etc., in which he is now much engaged ; also went
through the old castle, now used for the university;
dined with Professor Johnston at four clock ; returned
to the hotel. . . . Took my tea with him, and he accom-
panied me at half past nine to the coach office, whence
I took coach for Leeds. I have little to say about
Durham University, promising as it is in some respects,
because they have adopted the monkish system of Ox-
ford and Cambridge to the fullest extent; the pro-
fessors and tutors except Johnston are all clergy-
men ; the curriculum includes nothing but classics, a
little mathematics, and less logic ; their professor of
natural philosophy never lectures; they give their
professor of chemistry, mineralogy, and geology
just fifty pounds a year (nothing for his experiments),
and require no one to attend his lectures.

But now I must record some painful news, just
learned to-day, which has shocked me exceedingly,
but which you will have heard of long ere this reaches
you ; viz., the loss of the noble ship Pennsylvania,

110 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

the death of Captain Smith, the first and second mate,
and some of the passengers, I hardly yet know how
many. I had grown much attached to this ship, and
thought highly of its officers, who had been kind to
me. . . .

LONDON, January 17, 1839, Thursday evening.

This is dated at this modern Babylon, where I arrived
about nine o'clock last evening. I stopped at the
White Boar, Coventry Street, Piccadilly ; had a quiet
night's sleep; rose early this morning, and had
breakfasted and was on my way to Dr. Boott's1 (24
Gower Street) before ten o'clock. I found Doctor B.
at home ; was kindly received and was introduced to his
wife, mother, children, and a brother from Boston who
is now with him ; spent an hour or two with him ;
heard that Hooker was in town. Though not a pub-
lic day went to the British Museum; inquired for
Brown (Mr. Brown, for he does not like to be called
Dr.), and was so fortunate as to find not only the man
himself I was so anxious to set my eyes on, but also
Hooker, Joseph Hooker, Bennett,2 and Dr. Richard-
son.3 Passed an hour or^two. Brown invited Hooker
and me to breakfast with him on Saturday morning ;
went out with Hooker ; first to -the Linnasan Society ;
introduced to David Don,4 a stout Scotchman, and

1 Francis Boott, 1792-1863. Born in Boston, United States. Early
removed to London, where he studied and practiced medicine a few
years. " A good botanist, and in his later life devoted to the study of
Carices " [A. G.].

2 John Joseph Bennett, 1801-1876 ; keeper of the herbarium of
the British Museum. " One of the most learned and modest of
men" [A. G.].

3 Sir John Richardson, M. D., 1787-1865. " The well-known Arc-
tic explorer, zoologist, and botanist " [A. G.].

4 David Don, 1795-1856; librarian of the Limuean Society; pro-
fessor of botany in King's College, London.

MT. 28.] JOURNAL. Ill

looked through the rooms of the society. Don offered
to give me every possible facility in my pursuits, but
of course I said nothing to him about Pursh's 1 herba-
rium at Lambert's, of which he was formerly curator ;
for since he married Lambert's housekeeper, or cook,
I forget which, Lambert will not allow him to come
into the house. From here Hooker took me, — stop-
ping by the way at Philip's, one of the most eminent
painters, whose gallery we saw, — to the house of
Lambert 2 himself, the queerest old mortal I ever set
eyes on. But Carey's description of the man was so
accurate that I should have known him anywhere. I
was of course invited to breakfast with him any morn-
ing at nine ; he showed us his Cacti stuffed with plas-
ter of paris, among others a very curious one called
muff-cactus, which really looks just like a lady's muff
and is not much smaller. Lambert's specimens are
the only ones known, and he gave for them something"
like a hundred guineas, — the old goose ! A woman has
the care of his collections in place of Don. She stuffs
the cacti and seems quite as enthusiastic as old Lam-
bert himself. We went next to the Horticultural
Society's rooms in Regent Street in hopes to find Mr.
Bentham ; but instead we met Lindley, who received
us very politely ; he asked me to send him my address
the moment I was settled in lodgings. . . . Here I
parted from Hooker for the present, declining an invi-
tation to join him at the dinner of the Royal Society's
Club, for which I was afterwards almost sorry, as I
should have met there Hallam, the historian, and

1 Frederic Pursh, 1774-1820. Emigrated to America, 1799. Trav-
eled and collected much ; settled later in Montreal, where he died.

2 Aylmer Bourke Lambert, 1762-1842 ; author of the Genus Pinus
and the Genus Cinchona. Owned a very large herbarium comprising
plants of Pursh, who published under his liberal patronage.

112 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

some other distinguished men, as also Brown, whose
peculiar dry wit is said to have abounded greatly.
Hooker seems as anxious to serve me and aid me here
in London as at his own home. He is the most noble
man I ever knew. Thence I took a cab and drove
into the City, through Temple Bar, down Fleet Street;
drove round St. Paul's, to the office of Baring Bro-
thers & Company, who are to be my bankers and to
whom my letters here may now be addressed ; thence
to the office of Wiley & Putnam in Paternoster Row ;
did not see Mr. Wiley, but learned that the copies of
our " Flora " had not arrived, which I am very sorry
for, and don't know how to account for it ; called at C.
Rich's, but found no letters, which was a sad disap-
pointment indeed ; thence back here to dinner. At
eight o'clock went to Somerset House to attend a meet-
ing of the Royal Society, where again I met Hooker
and Dr. Richardson. Brown was also present, for the
first time in eight years. Royle l was in the chair, at
which the botanists present sneered much, as they evi-
dently think him too small a man to fill the seat occu-
pied by Newton, etc. I don't know how he happened
to be one of the vice-presidents. I was introduced to
him after the meeting, as also to many others. J. E.
Gray, 2 who was very polite, gave me and Joseph
Hooker tickets for Faraday's lecture of to-morrow
evening, invited me to dine with him to-morrow, etc.
I was glad to make the acquaintance of Mr. Criff 3

1 John Forbes Royle, M. D. ; a surgeon in the East India Company.
Wrote on the botany of the Himalaya.

2 John Edward Gray, 1800-1875 ; keeper of the zoological collec-
tions of the British Museum for many years. "Of persistent ardor,
indomitable energy, and great practical power" [A. G ].

3 William Clift, 1775-1849 ; curator of the Hunterian Museum of
the Royal College of Surgeons.

JET. 28.] JOURNAL.

(or Clift) the curator of the Hunterian Museum, the
man who exposed Sir Everard Home, who invited us
to come and see that museum. While we were con-
versing, a gentleman, whom Hooker did not at
the time recognize, addressed us, and after some
conversation with me asked me if I would like to
be introduced to Sir Astley Cooper, and see his mu-
seum. I answered of course that it would be a great
gratification, when he introduced himself as Bransby
Cooper, the nephew of Sir Astley, — of whom I have
heard formerly not a little, — gave me his address,
and Joseph Hooker and myself are to call on him on
Monday next. I was introduced also to Dr. Roget,1
but saw not so much of him as I could wish ; so you
see I have met more distinguished men in one day
than I might elsewhere meet with perhaps in a
whole life. But I must break off ; I am engaged to
breakfast in the morning with Hooker, to meet also
Dr. Richardson. . . .

WHITE BEAR, PICCADILLY, 18th January, 1839, Friday evening.

I am not yet in private lodgings, but hope to be so
to-morrow. You must not expect me to mention half
the things I see in a day here in this busy metropolis,
where as yet everything I have seen has been viewed
in the most desultory manner. I breakfasted with
Hooker and Richardson, who left me for a half hour
at the Adelaide Gallery, where I saw very many things
to interest me, which we will not stop to talk of now,
as I hope to be there again; among other things, a
live Gymnotus or Electrical Eel, which gives powerful
shocks, they say, for I did not choose to feel it myself.

1 Peter Mark Rog-et, M. D., 1779-1869 ; secretary of the Royal
Society, London. Wrote Animal and Vegetable Physiology, and the
well-known Thesaurus.

114 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

Thence we visited the Museum of the Zoological So-
ciety, for which Dr. Richardson not only procured us
free admittance, but procured for us an order to visit
the Zoological Gardens ; made calls with Hooker,
whom Joseph and I left with the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer in Downing Street, while we passed by West-
minster Hall and Abbey down to Bentham's, who has
a beautiful residence as retired as the country. Found
Bentham an exceedingly pleasant and amiable man ;
spent an hour or two, till Hooker came in ; accepted
an invitation to dine with him to-morrow ; went into
the City ; introduced to Richard Taylor,1 at his print-
ing-office ; were all invited to breakfast on Tuesday
morning next ; went to Longman's famous bookstore
and warehouse ; one of the young Longmans politely
showed us over the building, showed us room after
room filled with solid literature, — a most surprising
quantity ; went by St. Paul's again, saw the Bank, etc. ;
took an omnibus again to West End ; passed by the
London University, etc. Joe Hooker and I went to
dine with J. E. Gray, who has taken it into his head
to show us no little attention ; he has lately married
a rich wife, a widow, much older than himself ; I was
quite pleased with her. Went to the Botanical So-
ciety, — poor concern ; and then to hear Faraday give
the first lecture of the season at the Royal Institution,
Mr. Gray having kindly offered us tickets. I was
unexpectedly introduced to Faraday just before the
lecture ; pleasant man, with a very quick and lively
expression of countenance. The lecture was on Elec-
trical Eels, etc. ; most elegant lecturer he is ; brilliant
and rapid experimenter. I hope to hear him again.

1 Richard Taylor ; printer ; for many years secretary of the Limiaaan
Society.

MT. 28.] JOURNAL. 115

Saturday evening, January 19. — I am now in
lodgings, No. 36 Northumberland Street, near North-
umberland House, Charing Cross, in the room just
vacated by Dr. Richardson ; sixteen shillings a week,
and a shilling for my breakfast when I choose to take
it here. It is half past eleven. I have just come in ;
no fire, but fortunately my occupation for to-day is
soon told. Hooker, Joe, and I breakfasted with
Brown at his house, and stayed with him until four
o'clock in the afternoon ! I have a good deal to say
about him, but not here. He is a curious man in
other things besides botany. He has a few choice
paintings, and a few exquisite engravings he has
picked up on the Continent. I coveted them for you.
They are just what we should be delighted to have.
I dressed for dinner, then drove with my luggage to
my present lodgings, and then took up Hooker and
Joe for Bentham's to dinner at half past six, where
we met Lindley and Mr. Brydges ; the dinner was
just the beau ideal of taste and simple elegance. In
the drawing - room coffee was served up, and in a
half hour Assam tea. I am greatly pleased with
Bentham, and delighted with Mrs. B. But more of
this anon. We are to breakfast with him on Monday,
and then make up a party to Kew and the Horticul-
tural Gardens. The house he lives in, a pleasant place,
plain but tastefully furnished and arranged, was the
one where Jeremy Bentham lived. . . .

Tuesday evening, January 22. — I have to account
for myself for two days past, but fortunately this can
be done in general terms in few words. Were I to
enter very fully into particulars I should fill several
sheets. Yesterday Sir William Hooker, Joseph, and
I breakfasted according to appointment with Ben-

116 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

tham, and set out, although the day was rainy, for a
visit to the Horticultural Gardens at Chiswick. We
went in an omnibus, and I noticed on the way Apsley
House (Duke of Wellington), and the monument to
his Grace in Hyde Park, near his house (what is
the good of honors, indeed, if one cannot see them ?),
Holland House, which I saw from some distance,
etc. We found Lindley at the Gardens, and looked
through the grounds. They have very few hothouses
as yet, but have just dug the foundation of a very
splendid one, which is, however, to form one wing
merely of the general plan. We went to Kew, about
two miles farther, and looked through those fine old
grounds and gardens. The hothouses and the collec-
tions in them were much larger and more interesting
than I had anticipated. They are particularly rich in
New Holland and Cape plants. There is a new con-
servatory for large plants, a fine one certainly, which
cost six thousand pounds, and the roof was taken from
the greenhouse at Buckingham Palace, and therefore
cost nothing. It seems an extravagant job, and Mr.
Bentham feels sure a much better one of the same size
could be built for four thousand pounds. While here
we paid a visit to Francis Bauer,1 now eighty-five
years old, and much broken down, but still hard at
work, and making as beautiful drawings as ever (be-
yond comparison excellent), and as delicate micro-
scopical examinations. He has lately been working
at fossil Infusoria, and showed me figures of Bailey's
plate in " Silliman's Journal " which he had copied.
He was greatly pleased when I offered to send him
specimens of the things themselves. He showed me
the original red snow from arctic America, and also his

1 Francis Bauer ; botanical artist to George III.

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. Ill

splendid drawings. Returned to town, and dined with
Bentham.

This morning we breakfasted with Richard Taylor
in the City ; and went afterwards to the College of
Surgeons, by appointment Hooker had made, to see
Professor Owen, and the fine museum of the college
under his charge (John Hunter's originally) ; a mag-
nificent collection it is, in the finest possible order ;
and the arrangement and plan of the rooms is far,
very far better and prettier than any I have seen.
I shall make some memoranda about it. We there
met Mr. Darwin, the naturalist who accompanied
Captain King in the Beagle. I was glad to form the
acquaintance of such a profound scientific scholar as
Professor Owen, — the best comparative anatomist liv-
ing, still young, and one of the most mild, gentle,
childlike men I ever saw. He gave us a great deal
of most interesting information, and showed us per-
sonally throughout the whole museum. I am every
day under deeper obligations to Sir William Hooker,
to whom I owe the gratification of forming so many
acquaintances under such favorable circumstances.
Hooker stays over night often at his brother-in-law's,
Sir Francis Palgrave, the great antiquarian and Saxon
scholar, Keeper of the Records, of whom I have read
so much in the " British Review." His eldest daugh-
ter, Maria, is spending the winter there. On Hooker's
return on Monday he was so kind as to bring me an
invitation from Lady Palgrave to dine with them on
Saturday, which will be the last I shall see of Hooker,
as he is to set out on Monday for home. In the after-
noon we spent an interesting hour in looking through
the vast halls of the British Museum, particularly
through the sculpture, the Elgin marbles, Egyptian

118 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

antiquities, etc. These last are much more grand than
I had supposed. Indeed, I was struck with wonder.
I hope sometime to spend a day or two in looking
through these rich collections. Called on Lyell the
geologist.

We dined with Dr. Roget, the secretary of the
Royal Society, where we met Sir Francis Staunton, a
great Oriental scholar and traveler, Professor Royle,
Dr. Boott, and two others whose names I forget.' But
best of all Dr. Boott brought me a letter from Dr.
Torrey, dated December 25 (Christmas), and I soon
contrived to get into a quiet corner to read it ; right
glad I was to hear from home once more ; I will
answer it to-morrow. We left very early, as Hooker
was to go to Hampstead, where Sir Francis Palgrave
resides. Joe and I walked with him, till he should
find a stage ; but as none overtook us and the night
was fine we walked the whole way, three or four miles,
and having left Sir William safe and sound, and seen
Sir Francis Palgrave for a moment, the remainder of
the family having retired to rest, Joe and I walked
back again to town. I confess I am a little tired, and
am quite willing to go to bed. A Dieu.

Wednesday, January 23, 1839. — Breakfasted and
dined with Mr. Bentham, and studied plants with him
all day and a good portion of the evening, excepting
an hour or so in the morning when we walked out, and
Bentham took me through the splendid house of the
Athenaeum Club, and we also visited the National Gal-
lery, and saw fine paintings in great numbers from
almost every artist ancient or modern. It is very
near my lodgings, and I intend to visit it again. Here
are some of West's original pictures, and likewise the
paintings or sketches of Hogarth from which his well-

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 119

known engravings were taken. They are much more
expressive than the prints. E. would enjoy many of
them very much, and especially some of Wilkie's of
the same kind.

I am to take my breakfast in my lodgings to-
morrow morning, which I have as yet done but once.
I sent yesterday my letter of introduction to William
Christy, who lives out of town, and received to-day a
most polite invitation to dine with him to-morrow,
and meet Hooker and Joe.

Thursday. — Breakfast at home. Call with Joe
Hooker on Bransby Cooper, and then on Sir Astley
Cooper; pleasantly received, saw some very curious
preparations ; spent the morning with Bentham, and
dined at Mr. Christy's, Clapham Koad, where I spent
an agreeable evening. Returning, wrote a letter to
Dr. Torrey to go by mail to-morrow to Bristol for the
Great Western.

Friday evening. — I breakfasted at my lodgings
this morning, and afterwards walked out with Sir
William and Joe Hooker to Regent's Park ; went to
the Coliseum to see the Panorama of London, and well
worth seeing it is. It will save me a visit to the top
of the dome of St. Paul's, I think, for the Panorama
is said to be more perfect than nature. I will say no
more about it, as Dr. Torrey has seen it. The illusion
is perfect, were it not for some unseemly cracks in the
sky ! We called on Dr. Boott ; then went into the
City. Our object was to visit the museum at the India
House (where the poet Lamb spent so great a portion
of his life). I made the acquaintance of Dr. Hors-
field,1 the curator, who also collected the best part of

1 Thomas Horsfield, M. D., 1774-1859. Born in Pennsylvania.
After sixteen years in Java, passed the rest of his life in London as

120 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

the museum in Java and India. He is an American,
if you can so call a man who has not been in the
country since the year 1800. I was much interested
with the library, which contains a vast quantity of
Indian idols, sculptures, and antiquities, as well as
fine Chinese curiosities. It is immensely rich, also, in
Indian, Persian, and Arabic manuscripts ; the finest
in the world in such things. Some of the Persian
(Arabic) manuscripts are most beautifully illustrated,
or illuminated, and the writing is neater than you can
conceive. Here is preserved also an original petition
of the India Company to Oliver Cromwell, with the
answer in his own rough and strong handwriting.1 . . .
We dined at Lambert's, where we found Robert Brown,
Mr. Ward,2 who had been looking for me, and imme-
diately asked me to name a day to see his plants in
the Wardian cases, and an evening erelong to examine
some thirty or forty first-rate microscopes which he
has in his house ; also Dr. Bostock, Mr. Benson, a
legal gentleman, a great scholar and author ; and last,
not least, yet certainly almost the last person I should
have expected to see, Lady Charlotte Bury (formerly
Lady Charlotte Campbell), whom you will remember
as the author of that book on the secret history of
the court of George IV. and his Queen, of which we
read together, that summer, the deeply interesting re-
view by Brougham. Lady Bury is now supposed to
be sixty years old, and was for a long time considered
as the handsomest woman in Great Britain ; she still

keeper of the museum of the East India Company. Brown & Bennett
published part of his collections, Plantce Javanicce Rariares.

1 I forgot to mention also some bricks from Babylon, covered with
arrowhead characters, which were the most interesting relics of an-
tiquity I almost ever saw. — A. G.

2 Nathaniel B. Ward, 1791-1868 ; inventor of the Wardian case.

JET. 28.] JOURNAL. 121

looks well, though too embonpoint, and dresses like
a young lady, with short sleeves. She is of a high
family, a sister of the present Duke of Argyll, and is
certainly talented ; she is said to be quite poor. Her
daughters are married into families of rank, except
one (Miss Bury) who was with her mother at Lam-
bert's, whom Sir William Hooker thought remarkably
handsome, but I did not. As I have not a high respect
for Lady Bury's character I did not throw myself into
her circle, and saw almost nothing of her the whole
evening. We came away early.

Saturday evening. — I paid a visit, this morning,
in company with Joe Hooker, to the Zoological Gar-
dens in Regent's Park, where we saw all kinds of four-
footed beasts, and fowl, and creeping things. There
are four giraffes, but none quite so large as those we
saw in New York. There were a very fine orang-
outang, very gentle and amiable, a curious spider-
monkey, and other curious animals in great plenty.
The finest residences I have seen in London are those
which look upon Regent's Park. Returning, we called
upon Lambert, Saturday being a kind of public day
with him, and there met that Nestor of botanists,
Mr. Menzies,1 whom I found a most pleasant and
kind-hearted old man; he invited me very earnestly
to come down and see him, which I will try to do
some day. Meanwhile I expect to meet him on Tues-
day at Mr. Ward's.

We just had time to go down into the City to call 011
Mr. Putnam (publisher) and to learn that copies of
the "Flora" had arrived, but were not yet cleared

1 Archibald Menzies, 1754-1842; the botanist who accompanied
Vancouver in his voyage to the west coasts of North and South
America. His collections are in the Edinburgh and Kew Herbariums.

122 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

from the custom-house ; then took the Hampstead
coach to dine at Sir Francis Palgrave's. Excepting
Hooker and Joe, I almost forget who the guests were.
I was not interested in any of them particularly. Sir
Francis was very agreeable ; his conversational powers
are almost equal to his erudition. His lady, who
looks very much like Lady Hooker, is, like all that
family, learned and accomplished. I was glad also to
meet Hooker's eldest daughter.

The boys interested me much ; I think I never saw
more intelligent lads. Sir Francis asked me to call
at the Chapter-House, Westminster Abbey, his office
as Keeper of the Records, and he would show me the
Domesday Book. How a sight of it would electrify
Dr. Barrett ! He asked me at dinner the meaning of
the term locofoco as applied to a party in the United
States. I gave him the story of the meeting in Tam-
many Hall which gave rise to the designation, which
afforded much amusement.

Sunday evening, January 27. — I was better pre-
pared than last Sabbath, for I took pains to call yes-
terday at the office of the Religious Tract Society,
and found where Baptist Noel preached. It is St.
John's Chapel, at considerable distance from here.
Nevertheless I attended there to-day, and have reason
to be glad that I did so, for I heard a most excellent
sermon in the morning, from Psalm ciii. 10—12. Mr.
Noel is a most simple, winning preacher, and his 'ser-
mon was the most thoroughly evangelical and earnest
I ever heard from an Episcopal pulpit. I wish I
could give you some idea of it. I took notes for your
benefit as well as I could, and have written them out,
but they will give you a very imperfect idea of it.
The church, a large one, with double galleries around

*:T. 28.] JOURNAL. 123

three sides, was crowded. This afternoon his assistant,
Mr. Gar wood, preached, and there was room enough,
but we had a good sermon. This Mr. Garwood, you
may have seen by the papers, has lately been perse-
cuted a little by his bishop, for acting as secretary to
the London City Mission. Both he and Mr. Noel
are doing much good in raising the standard of piety
and active benevolence in the church they belong to.
I hope by next Sunday to inquire out Dr. Reed's
church. I have not been out this evening, but have
employed myself in copying out my poor notes on
the morning sermon, which I trust soon to forward to
you.

Monday evening, January 28, 1839. — I spent the
morning with Bentham, by appointment, with whom I
breakfasted and looked at Leguminosae until two p. M. ;
then joined Joe Hooker (took leave of Sir William
this morning, who has returned to Glasgow, via~
Woburn) ; made calls, among others on Dr. Bostock,
who received me very politely; we then dined to-
gether at a chop-house ; called on Dr. Boott, spent an
hour or two in his very pleasant family ; then attended
a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, in
which all that interested me was a paper by Professor
Robinson of New York, on some interesting matters
of ancient geography connected with his travels in
Asia Minor. The paper was sent to the Geographical
Society by a learned German geographer ; it excited
much interest. . . .

London, January 24, 1839. — I have so far been
seeing men and things chiefly, but have had one
or two botanical sittings with Bentham, who is a thor-
oughly kind and good fellow. He immediately had
all the remaining parcels of Douglas's Californian

124 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

and Oregon plants sent down to his house, and has
supplied me as well as he could ; and a valuable par-
cel I shall have of them. . . .

I have seen considerable of Brown, and like him
much better than I thought, although he is certainly
peculiar. The day we breakfasted with him we re-
mained until four p. M., and he offered to show anything
I wished at the British Museum. He showed us all
Bauer's drawings in his possession (I have since seen
Francis Bauer). He has much more general infor-
mation than I supposed ; is full of gossip, and has a
great deal of dry wit.

He is growing old fast, and I suspect works very
little now, and I fear there is not very much more
work now to be expected of him. He knows every-
thing ! . . .

I spent a good part of yesterday with Bentham, and
was to have met Hooker at the Geological Society in
the evening ; but botany prevailed and I stayed with
Bentham, and was a little sorry afterwards, as I
should have seen at the society Whewell ! Daubeny !
Chantry the sculptor, etc. — I have bought a colored
copy of Wallich's "Plantae Asiaticae Rariores," 3
vols. fol., very fine, for X15 ; the publishing price
was X36, — the present price by Henry Bohn, who
has bought up not only this but almost every other
expensive British work on natural history, is .£26. It
is not yet come round from Edinburgh. I will soon
send it to you. ... I have seen the " Atakta Bo-
tanica " of Endlicher, where there is a plate of Un-
gnadia (not Ungnodia, as spelled in " Companion
to the Botanical Magazine "), but no letter-press as
yet. . . .

January 30, Wednesday evening. . . . Yesterday

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 125

morning Joe Hooker and myself breakfasted together,
and then paid a visit to Westminster Abbey, which
we examined in every part, from Poets' Corner to
Henry VII.'s Chapel. . . .

As we left the Abbey (where, by the way, we were
most thoroughly chilled with our long stay), we went
into the Chapter House adjoining, a very antique
building crammed with old records and musty manu-
scripts, and Sir Francis Palgrave kindly showed us
the famous Domesday Book, which is in a perfect
state of preservation ; all the writing perfectly dis-
tinct, and so plainly executed that we could read it,
here and there, with moderate facility. He showed
us a copy of a treaty made with France by Cardinal
Wolsey, of which the immense seal appended was cut
in gold, and of the most elaborate workmanship. We
saw also the original papal bull sent to Henry VIII.,
constituting him " Defender of the Faith " ! We went
from this to Westminster Hall ; saw the large room,
which is very fine ; looked into the Court of Exche-
quer, and saw the Lord Chancellor and other judges
in their full-bottom wigs, most funny to behold, I
assure you ; and the barristers with their queer horse-
hair wigs, frizzled on the top of their heads, but tied
up into nice and regular curls behind, which fall upon
their shoulders. The case of the Canadian prisoners
was then under consideration. We then rode in an
omnibus to the City and visited St. Paul's Church,
which, grand as it is, does not show to advantage after
Westminster Abbey. The monumental statuary is
very fine ; some of it I would mention, but the ex-
treme lateness of the hour obliges me discreetly to
break off and finish my account of the day hereafter.
Bon soir, or rather Bon jour !

126 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

Thursday evening. ... To commence where I broke
off with Tuesday. We went to dine, by appointment,
with Mr. Ward, the plant-case man, at three P. M.,
which hour was appointed for the purpose of showing
us the plant-cases, etc., by daylight. Ward is one of
the most obliging men I ever knew. I was perhaps a
little disappointed in his plants, but this is the very
worst season of the year, particularly in London, and
his house, which is in the heart of the city, near Lon-
don Docks, is very badly situated as to light. But I
have learned something from him, and feel confident
that I shall be able to manage our plant-cases much
better hereafter. Menzies was there, and a truly kind-
hearted old man he is. I was to have returned in
time to spend the evening at Bentham's, but owing to
the stormy weather I did not reach my lodgings till it
was too late. On Friday (a snowy day) I was out
rather late ; went to Bentham's, where I spent the
whole morning, dined with him and Mrs. Bentham,
three in all ! — they have no children, and live in the
most cosy and quiet way you could imagine — and
spent the whole evening with him in labeling plants
which he selected for me from his duplicates. To-day,
Joseph Hooker having concluded to postpone till this
evening his departure for Glasgow, and having writ-
ten accordingly to Ward to meet us, we visited the
famous greenhouses and conservatories of Loddiges.
Miss Maria Hooker was with us, having come out
from Hampstead for the purpose. It is rather a long
ride to Hackney, but we were well repaid. The col-
lection of Orchidea3 is immense and very beautiful, but
a very small portion is now in flower. The palm-
house, ample and magnificent as it is, rather disap-
pointed me; it seemed not so much larger than that

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 127

of the Edinburgh garden, and the plants are not in
such nice order. Loddiges was very kind to me.
Ward selected a few pretty plants for Miss Hooker.
I forgot for the moment that there was such a world
of waters between us, and was on the point of selecting
some for you know whom ; I am not sure that I did
not bring some after all.

Loddiges took us to his house and showed his col-
lection of humming-birds, which is the finest in the
world. He had nearly 200 species, and usually sev-
eral specimens of a kind, very beautifully mounted
and arranged. You can't imagine how beautiful they
are ! They are his great pets, and I do not wonder.
I returned through the City, stopped a few moments
at the British Museum, dined with Joe Hooker at his
hotel near me, and shortly after saw him start for
Glasgow. I sent by him a copy of " Outre Mer " to
Lady Hooker. At nine P. M. I went to the meeting oj
the Royal Society, heard a paper read of the Hon.
Fox Talbot's on the power of objects not only to sit
for, but to draw their own portraits, which has just
been making a great noise in France. It is done by
the influence of the light of the sun upon paper pre-
pared by nitrate or chloride of silver. Talbot seems
to have found out all about it long ago, but the French
have published first. I will write the doctor more
particularly about it, and send the " Athenaeum " con-
taining the account when it appears.

I have neglected to say that I received two days
ago a very kind note from Lindley inviting me to
come down to his place, dine with him on Sunday
next, stay all night, spend Monday at his herbarium,
and meet a few botanical friends at dinner, and re-
turn next morning. I declined of course the invita-

128 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

tion as far as it related to Sunday, but accepted it for
Monday, and offered to get down to Turnham Green
in time to breakfast with him. This morning I re-
ceived another note from him, pointing out the way in
which I may reach his house in time. I have also a
letter from Francis Bauer, inclosing some European
Infusoria, in return for a few of Bailey's I gave him.
I will send a portion to Professor Bailey.

Friday evening, February 1. — I spent the earliest
part of the morning in my own room ; then went
to Lambert's, and commenced the examination of
Pursh's plants. After dining in a simple way by
myself, I went to Bentham's, by appointment, to
spend the evening in looking out duplicate plants. I
found him and Mrs. B. sitting cosily together in the
study. We had a cup of tea and some chat, and then
fell to work until half past eleven, when I came away
walking as usual by Westminster Abbey, of which I
often get very good nocturnal views.

Saturday evening, February 2. ... Brown has
been very kind to me, in his peculiar way. I have
seen him but twice since Hooker and I breakfasted
with him, but I hope soon to be at work at the British
Museum and to see more of him. He is very fond
of gossip at his own fireside, and amused us ex-
tremely with his dry wit, but in company he is silent
and reserved. I have found out also that it does not
do to ask him directly any question about plants. He
is, as old Menzies told us, the driest pump imaginable.
But although he will not bear direct squeezing, yet by
coaxing and very careful management any one he has
confidence in may get a good deal out of him. He
tells me that Petalanthera, Nutt., is a published
genus, and promises to give me all the information

JET. 28.] JOURNAL. 129

about it I desire. I asked him some question about
the manner in which the vessels of ferns uncoil. He
at once remarked, " They unroll like a ribbon " !
Quekett has been examining them, so has a botanist
in India ; all are much interested in them. I placed
Bailey's specimens afterwards in his hands and also
some of the Infusoria, which he expressed himself
much pleased with when I saw him at Lambert's. By
the way, the Infusoria were sent by Bailey himself.
I delivered also the parcel for Lindley, and gave the
rest I had mostly to Dr. Roget, Mr. Lyell,1 and
Francis Bauer, who were all very glad to get them.
I have saved a few for Mr. Ward's microscopical party
which he is to give on Wednesday of week after next.
... I shall also order, for Sullivant, Hooker's " Icones
Plantarum," which will be continued, as Hooker fur-
nishes all the matter for nothing and gives the plates,
finding paper and everything. Although there is not
so much detail as I could wish, yet it is becoming a
very valuable collection for a student of natural
orders. . . .

Monday evening. — I have seen the original Taxus
nucifera, of Thunberg, both leaves and fruit. Arnott
should have paid more attention to it. It is very like
Torreya ! and doubtless a congener, — and so Brown
insinuates. I will see more about it soon. A new
edition of Lindley's " Introduction to Botany " is pre-
paring ! Sullivant wants, I suppose, a microscope of
single lenses — a good working instrument — and an
achromatic. This last I think I shall procure for him
in London, where they produce more perfect instru-
ments than the French. Can you send Bentham the
Lindernias ? He wishes much to examine them ; send
good corollas.

1 Sir Charles Lyell, the geologist.

130 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

Arnott seems to think much more of Nees von
Esenbeck than anybody else. It is generally thought
he is in his dotage, and a sad, very sad splitter of
straws. . . .

I had some thoughts of going to Paris via Leyden,
to see if I can coax anything out of Blume, but he
seems to have behaved rather strangely to all the
English botanists I have yet met with. You ask
whom I liked best in Scotland : Hooker is all in all !

A new Antarctic expedition is planned ; indeed is
settled upon nearly, to be commanded by James Ross.
But a part of the administration throw difficulties in
the way. If it goes Joseph Hooker is to be the nat-
uralist. ... By the way, Corda's " Memoir on Im-
pregnation of Plants " turns out to be mere humbug,
and it seems there is little dependence to be placed
upon him. . . .

Tell Bailey I am every day getting information
that will be valuable to him, in the microscopical way.
I have a new correspondent for him, Mr. Edwin J.
Quekett,1 50 Wellclose Square, London, an excellent
microscopist. I will write soon what he wants, and
he will send through me some microscopical objects.

P. S. — I have just had the offer of a chance to
examine Walter's herbarium as much as I like ! — to
take it into my possession for a week if I like ! and
that after I had nearly given up all hopes of it.

February 5, eleven o'clock, evening. ... I think
I mentioned in those letters how yesterday was spent,
viz., that I rose early, took stagecoach for Turnham
Green, near Chiswick, where Lindley resides, break-
fasted and spent the day. Lindley was certainly very

J. Quekett, 1808-1847. Wrote much on the microscopic
structure of plants and animals.

JET. 28.] JOURNAL. 131

civil. Mrs. Lindley is a quiet lady of plain man-
ners and apparently very domestic habits. Miss
Drake, whose name appears as the artist in all of
Lindley's plates almost, was present, and is, I judge, a
member of his family, and perhaps a relative of Mrs.
Lindley. I saw Lindley's splendid " Sertum Orchida-
ceum," and a much more luxurious work, the " Orchi-
daceae of Mexico and Guatemala," by Bateman, a very
large-paper work a 1'Audubon. We looked over
some families together in a desultory way, and I took
up the Lupines and compared ours carefully with
Lindley's, which were named by Agardh. At dinner
met Dr. Quekett and Mr. Miers,1 a traveler in Bra-
zil. On reaching my room I found a note from Bell,
the zoologist (to whom I brought a letter from John
Carey, but left at his house, not being able to see him),
inviting me dine as his guest at the Linnaaan Club,
before the meeting of the Linnaaan Society. Fortu-
nately, as I do not like club-dinners, I had previously
accepted Bentham's invitation to dine quietly with
him and Mrs. B. on that day, so I sent a note of
declinature. I have already told you of my failure,
by my own carelessness, of seeing the opening of Par-
liament, which I regret, as I should like to see the
peers in official costume, and the peeresses in full
dress.

It did not break my heart, but I returned to Ben-
tham's and looked over plants until the hour approached
to take my place in the park to see the queen, and —
what is finer — her superb horses, with what success
I have already said ; thence to the Horticultural So-
ciety, where I received the welcome letters. After

1 John Miers, 1789-1879 ; a botanist who studied in South Amer-
ica and wrote many papers.

132 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

dispatching my parcel of letters I took a cab for
Bentham's, as it was raining finely, where we dined in
his quiet, elegant way. I don't think Dr. Torrey saw
enough of him, at least in his own house, to appreciate
him fully. . . .

You may well infer from my being so much with
him that he is my favorite. . . .

Wednesday evening. — After breakfast to-day I went
to Lambert's, thinking to finish nearly the examina-
tion of Pursh's plants, but I found Lambert on the
point of going out, though the morning was unpleas-
ant. So I was obliged to retrace my steps ; and as a
dernier ressort I went to the British Museum, and
commenced my examination of the Banksian Her-
barium. Brown was there most of the time, but did
very little except to read the newspaper and crack his
jokes. I broke off at four o'clock ; went down to the
City, called on Mr. Putnam, took a parcel of late
American newspapers away with me, dined, went up
to Dr. Boott's, where I spent the evening so pleasantly
that eleven o'clock arrived before I thought of it. It
is now twelve. On my return here I found my parcel
had arrived from Edinburgh, the beautiful copy of
Wallich's work, a very complete and pretty set of
British Algae from Dr. Greville, and some letters
of introduction for the Continent which he has obli-
gingly favored me with. I must write a letter of
thanks to-morrow. . . .

Went to Ward's to see the tunnel. . . . We had
tea, Miss and Mrs. Ward regaled us with music, — and
both play extremely well ; then Ward and I looked
over plants until nearly half past ten, when we had
supper, a very substantial one, and I took my leave,
arriving at my lodgings a little after twelve. . . .

«T. 28.] JOURNAL. 133

Sunday evening, February 10. ... This morning
I attended one of the larger Methodist chapels, where
I heard an excellent sermon from 1 Pet. v. 7 : " Cast-
ing all your care upon him ; for he careth for you."
A portion of the Episcopal service was read at the be-
ginning from the desk ; but afterwards the clergy-
man ascended to the pulpit, when the singing and
prayers were in the ordinary manner. In the after-
noon I went to hear my old favorite Baptist Noel, who
was to preach a kind of charity sermon for the infant-
schools of St. Clement's, Danes. I felt satisfied that
we should have a close and fervent sermon, and truly
I was not disappointed. . . . He preaches ex tempore,
but has the most perfect facility of language ; the
words drop from his mouth without any apparent
effort, but he never repeats, and all seems equally im-
portant ; so unless I could write as fast as he speaks I
could give you no proper idea of his discourse. His
manner is so exceedingly placid that you wonder how
he fixes the attention of his auditors so perfectly.
There are many other clergymen who have the same
ardent piety, and the number I hope is increasing ; so
that one cannot help expecting great things from this
communion, if it once gets free from the contaminat-
ing influence of the political power. These men all
preach continually to crowded houses, which is an-
other good sign, and proves that the people are ready
to hear sound doctrine. I hoped to have heard an-
other of the same stamp this evening, and went all the
way to St. Sepulcre's, where Mr. Dale preaches in.
the evening, but he was out of town. . . .

February 5, evening. — It is not long since I
closed a parcel of letters for you, and dispatched them
by mail to Liverpool, for the steamship Liverpool, by

134 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

which I hope they will reach you early. I have since
attended a meeting of the Linnsean Society, Mr. Fors-
ter in the chair. Lambert never comes now for fear
of meeting Don, and also because he is a little piqued,
perhaps at not being made president. Brown seldom
comes, as he would have to take the chair in Lambert's
absence, and he. fears he might annoy Lambert, for
Brown is extremely tender of other persons' feelings.
I was most interested in the nominations to fill up the
five vacancies of the foreign associates. They were
Carus, Milne -Edwards, Dutrochet, Endlicher, and
Torrey. The nomination was signed by Bentham,
Brown, Boott, Forster, Owen, etc. I knew nothing
of it till just before the meeting, and I may be allowed
to say that I felt extremely gratified at such a very
handsome compliment paid to my best friend.

Lindley has given me to-day a copy of Griffith's
most admirable paper in the last part of the " Transac-
tions Linnaean Society," on the ovula of Santalum,
Loranthus, Viscum, etc., an anatomical paper of the
very highest order, — about forty pages, with eleven
fine plates. I am going to buy all the other papers on
Botany in the Linnsean Transactions which I think
valuable. They can be had of Coxhead, who buys
sets and pulls them to pieces to sell separately. Let
me not forget to tell you that, after having made dili-
gent inquiry of Brown, Bentham, etc., I had nearly
given up all hopes of finding Walter's 1 herbarium.
I spoke to Lindley yesterday, and he said he knew
the son of old Fraser, who would be most apt to know
something about it, and would give me his address,
by which I could find him if in town. But to-day,

1 Thomas Walter, d. 1788, in Carolina, U. S. Wrote Flora Caro-
liniana.

j£T. 28.] JOURNAL. 135

just after the adjournment of the Horticultural So-
ciety, and while I was glancing over your kind letters,
Lindley came to say that he had found Walter's
herbarium for me ! He introduced me to Mr. Fra-
ser, to whom it belongs, though not immediately in
his possession, who offered to send it up for my exam-
ination to the Horticultural Society's rooms, or any-
where I chose. I hope to get at it, with Bentham,
about Friday. I shall be anxious to let you know the
result. . . .

I am most clearly of the opinion that any person
who will make extensive collections of North American
plants, both Northern and Southern, and include also
a good collection from Santa Fe, the Platte country,
etc., have his sets named according to our work, and
who would devote four or five years to the business,
could, if he were really industrious and prudent, re-
alize $1000 per annum (clear). He should continue
my grass-book for one thing, giving loose sets only for
the present price, and while from time to time he sells
off collections as he can, should retain some fifty sets
in all the most interesting genera or small families,
get all the species, and publish them in monographic
sets. Knieskern could make, with the aid we would
gladly furnish, at least ten times as much money, as
long as he lives, as he ever will at physic, besides
being engaged in a much pleasanter way. I know
how all this should be managed now. Now for Dr.
Clapp. Tell him that Brown informs me that he does
not think jewel lenses can be depended upon as pos-
sessing any advantage over glass. He has an excel-
lent sapphire one, but that is a mere chance, and no
other has been made anything like it. They are now
almost never made, and appear to be going wholly out

136 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE,

of use. His other matters I will take in hand, but
he must not expect $20 to procure a doublet ^th
inch focus, two micrometer glasses, and a case of dis-
secting instruments. I have some engagements before
me with microscopical people, and when I get from
them all the information I can, I will set about these
affairs more understandingly. . . .

Saturday evening, February 9. — I have been en-
gaged nearly the whole day upon the herbarium you
so much wished to examine, viz., that of Walter. I
have not yet finished it, and find the examination very
tedious, as the specimens are very often not labeled,
except with the genus in his "Flora," so that I have
first to make out his own species, and then what they
are of succeeding authors.

The specimens are mostly mere bits, pasted down in
a huge folio volume. I suspect this was done by
Fraser,and the labels have sometimes been exchanged,
so that it requires no little patience. Some of the
things I most wished to see are not in the collection,
and there are several in the collection which are not
mentioned in the "Flora." You would laugh to see
what some of the things are that have puzzled us :
thus, for instance, his " Cucubalus polypetalus " is
Saponaria officinalis ! His " Dianthus Carolinianus "
is Frasera ! in fruit. I will soon send you my notes
on the collection, or a copy of them. Bentham looked
over the Leguminosse, Labiata3, etc., with me. I have
had two sittings at Pursh, but have not yet finished ;
I hope another day will do it, but am not certain.
I shall still require about three days more at the Brit-
ish Museum, two at the LinnaBan Society, and one at
Lindley's. An evening or two at Benthain's will suf-
fice to certify his LabiataB, Scrophularina3, etc. I must

JET. 28.] JOURNAL. 137

also have a day with Brown, if I can get it at his own
house. I hope very nearly to finish this next week, if
life and health are continued. . . .

February 12, 1839. — I am fearful even another
day will not see the end of Lambert's collection, and
I suspect a week is none too little for the British
Museum. Lady Charlotte Bury came into Lam-
bert's and had a long chat with him; such a pair
of originals ! She is to dine with Lambert on Sun-
day, but stipulated early, as she always made it a point
to read prayers to her servants on Sunday evening !

February 13, Wednesday evening, or rather one
o'clock, Thursday. — Eose and breakfasted at eight,
which is become my regular practice; started for
Lambert's at ten, where I worked incessantly till five
P. M. ; returned to my room ; dressed ; went to the
City, where I dined, and about eight o'clock arrived at
Ward's, whose microscopical party this evening was
given chiefly on my account. Some eight or more
splendid microscopes were in active use when I ar-
rived ; and the greater portion of the chief microscopic
people were there. I was introduced to Stokes, Solly,
Powel, Bowerbank.1 . . . Also Mr. Quekett, whom
I knew before, and several amateurs, such as Boott,
Bennett, Bentham, Don, were present. It was a feast
to me, you may be sure, and I acquired some useful
knowledge, and saw some strange things : the infuso-
ria in flint ; queer fossil woods, which are all the rage
here, and are extremely curious ; fibrocellular tissue,
the most beautiful thing you can imagine. One of
the best of the microscopists, Mr. Bowerbank, gave me
one or two curious microscopical objects, which he had

1 James Scott Bowerbank, 1797-1877. Wrote on Sponges and the
Fossil Fruits of the London Clay.

138 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

mounted for himself, and made an appointment with
me and another friend to meet him on Monday even-
ing next, to examine his microscopes and curious ob-
jects more quietly and at large than could be done in
a crowd, and to prepare some specimens for me. Mr.
Reade, a gentleman who was invited, but was pre-
vented from attending, was so kind as to send me a
copy of his paper on the Infusoria and Scales of Fishes
found in Flint, with proof impressions which are far
superior to those in the " Annals of Natural His-
tory." . . .

Tuesday evening, February 19. — Three days have
passed since I have written a line for you. This sus-
pension was occasioned by my late hours last night.
After spending the morning at the Horticultural So-
ciety, then going into the City, where I dined, then
going far out on the Mile-Find Road to deliver a letter
intrusted to me by Mr. Scatcherd, then returning as
far as the Bank, I went again, partly by omnibus and
partly on my legs, almost as far in the northern out-
skirts of the town, to spend an evening with Mr.
Bowerbank, one of the best microscopists in London,
who owns the best microscope. I found so much to
see that I did not get away until past twelve, and then
I had a walk before me almost the whole length of
London, — from New North Road to Charing Cross.
I had an opportunity of seeing, what was especially
promised me, the camera lucida applied to the micro-
scope ; an invaluable invention for an awkward person
like me, as I am convinced I could with a very little
practice turn out very fair outline sketches of objects
I might be examining. I acquired much information
on various subjects ; saw some most curious and unique
specimens of vegetable structure, and particularly

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 139

of fossil fruits, of which Mr. Bowerbank possesses an
invaluable collection ; capsules, which we broke open,
and examined not only the seed, with its testa, raphe,
and funiculus, but even the pulp which surrounded it.
I looked at many of his specimens of recent and fossil
wood, at his unrivaled cabinet of British fossils, and
when our party broke up, there was still so much left
that we made an appointment for another evening.
. . . Mr. Bentham, Mr. Brydges, and I went to the
Linnaean Society ; the president, the Bishop of Nor-
wich, was in the chair, — an amiable old gentleman.
Boott, Yarrell, Ward, Royle, Forster, et multis aliis,
were present. Mr. Forster l invited Dr. Boott and
me to fix a day to visit him at his residence, some
miles in the country, and dine with him. He is
greatly esteemed, and is said to be one of the most
kind-hearted and benevolent of men. I am now en-
gaged, I believe, for every day and evening of this
week, and half of next, and am busy enough, I assure
you. . . .

Friday evening, February 22. — I ought hardly to
use the date of Friday evening, as it is close upon one
o'clock of Saturday morning. But I must not neglect
my journal, and shall therefore give you a few hasty
lines ere I prepare for rest. I passed yesterday morn-
ing at the British Museum, that is, until near three
o'clock. I then hurried to my lodgings, snatched a
hasty dinner by the way, and went to the House of
Commons, Mr. Bentham having, through Dr. Eomily,
the speaker's clerk, procured me an order of admit-
tance within the body of the house, where I had the
finest opportunity for hearing and seeing. There was

1 Edward Forster, 1765-1849. Made vice-president of the Linnseau
Society in 1828.

140 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE, [1839,

nothing very important brought before the house, yet
on different subjects nearly all the leading officers of
the administration took the floor, Mr. Rice, the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, Lord John Russell, who is
evidently a man of most ready talent and tact, Lord
Palmerston, Lord Morpeth, the new member of the
cabinet, etc. I was exceedingly amused by the man-
ner in which Lord John Russell worsted a Colonel
Sibthorpe, an opposition member, who moved cer-
tain resolutions relative to Lord Durham's expenses,
couched in an offensive manner, and made a still more
objectionable speech. Lord J. Russell, in very placid
manner, set him out in such a ridiculous light, that
the gallant colonel first lost his temper completely,
and then lost his point, being obliged to withdraw his
own resolutions. I heard also, for a moment, Sir
Robert Peel, Dr. Lushington, Mr. Hume, and others
too tedious to enumerate. As to general decorum, or
the manner in which members often treat each other
in debate, I don't think we have much to learn. . . .

I spent this morning at the British Museum ; dined
with Mr. Putnam at a chop-house, and went to spend
the evening at Mr. Quekett's. I found, instead of
having the evening alone as I expected and wished,
that he had invited several friends, most of whom I
knew. Still, after tea the microscopes were produced,
and I had the opportunity of examining very many
curious things.

If they don't get out of my head in the mean time
I will try to mention some of them to Dr. Torrey
when I go on with my letter to him. As eating is a
very important matter here, we had a magnificent
supper at half past ten, and it was near twelve when I
left, with a walk of four miles before me. . . .

MT. 28.] JOURNAL. 141

Saturday evening. — This has been a busy and some-
what interesting day with me. I rose early, went
down to Bentham's to breakfast, stayed until eleven
o'clock, and then went up to Brown's house to spend
the morning, according to previous appointment.
We talked profound botanical matters, and Brown
not only amused and interested me, but gave me
much valuable information. He talks of visiting
America, possibly next summer, and I have promised
to plan him a route. I left him about four o'clock,
returned to my lodgings, dressed hastily, took a Ken-
sington omnibus, and reached old Mr. Menzies' little
place at five. Mr. Ward, who was to meet us, was
not there. We left at half past ten, and walked all
the way back, about four miles. So here I am safe
again. I read over the doctor's short letter again.
I am trying to imagine how Herbert looks now. He
has probably changed very much since I parted from
him. I have a very especial love for that little fel-
low.1 I must find time to write to the girls, yet fear
I shall scarcely be able until I have left London. Tell
them I think of them daily even if I cannot write
them. As to M's French letter, it is not due until I
get to France ; but that will, I trust, be soon. Adieu.
Good-night.

Sunday, February 24. I was fortunate this morn-
ing in being able to hear a man I had heard spoken
of, and of whom I had formed a high opinion : the
Rev. Thomas Dale, Vicar of St. Bride's, who also
preaches in the evening at St. Sepulcre's. He
preached from the first part of Luke vii. 47 : " Her
sins, which are many, are forgiven ; for she loved

1 Herbert Gray Torrey, born just before Dr. Gray sailed, was his
godson.

142 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

much." The discourse was truly evangelical and im-
pressive. He is the best preacher I have heard in
England next to Mr. Noel, and is more eloquent and
striking in manner than he, but has not the gentle
pathos and sweetness of Noel. . . .

Tuesday evening, February 26. . . . Met Mr. Put-
nam 1 at half past four. We had arranged before-
hand that he should attempt to procure some orders
for admittance to the House of Lords, and that we
should go down together. I found he had been suc-
cessful, having sent his clerk with notes to some half
dozen peers in order to make sure, and he thus ob-
tained more orders than he wanted. For me I found
he had addressed a note in my name to the Bishop
of London, who very promptly sent me an order of
admittance.

We set out accordingly. The room which is occu-
pied by the House of Lords temporarily, until the
New Houses of Parliament are built, is inferior in
size and accommodation to that of the Commons;
indeed there is nothing about it at all remarkable.
There was no business of very absorbing interest be-
fore the House this evening, and it adjourned as
early as eight. Still I had the good fortune to hear
nearly all those speak that I particularly cared for
except Wellington (who is sick) and Earl Durham. I
heard a long speech from Brougham and a very good
one, except that he took occasion to trumpet his own
good works. There was some fine sparring between
an Irish lord I do not remember, Lord Roden, Lord
Westmeath, and Lord Normanby, the late viceroy of
Ireland, a young man apparently, and a man of talent,

1 Mr. George P. Putnam ; the American publisher and bookseller,
at this time established in London.

JST. 28.] JOURNAL. 143

Melbourne, and Minto ; the lord chancellor, Denman
the chief justice, Sir James Scarlett, old Lord Hol-
land, etc., also spoke. The word " lengthy," which
was not long since called an Americanism, seems to be
pretty well naturalized, as Brougham used it several
times, and Scarlett more than once. Lord Palmer-
ston the other evening used the word " disculpate "
instead of " exculpate," which I fancy is rather modern
English. . . .

Friday evening, 12 o'clock, March 1. — I have just
returned from a most pleasant evening and day, as I
may say, spent at Mr. Forster's beautiful residence on
the border of Epping Forest, Essex (Woodford), about
ten miles from here. He is an old man, a banker, one
of the oldest vice-presidents of the Linnaean Society,
one of the most kind-hearted men, exceedingly be-
loved. He lives in an elegant but very unostentatious
way, in a most beautiful part of the country, the very
perfection of English scenery. He is said to be ex-
tremely benevolent, and to do a world of good. . . .

Saturday evening. — Immediately after breakfast
this morning I went down to Bentham, whom I had
not seen for a week ; spent two or three hours there,
returned again to my lodgings, went to the City, took
an early dinner with Mr. Putnam, and then we went
together in an omnibus to Hackney ; saw Loddiges'
extensive collections of fine plants again, lovely Orchi-
dese. The Camellias, of which he has a large house
filled with magnificent trees, were not yet in bloom.

. . . We walked across this eastern part of the city
down to the Tower, entered the gates and walked over
the grounds. It was too late to get entrance to the
armory or any of the interesting places, as the light
was beginning to fail. I went back to Mr. Ward's, at

144 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

Well-close Square, according to promise, to name some
plants for him, but Dr. Valentine,1 a most ingenious
vegetable anatomist and microscopist, being in town
(had previously met him at Lindley's), Mr. Ward had
foregone his own advantage and invited Valentine and
Quekett to meet me with their microscopes, so that
the evening was very instructive to me, which I had
not anticipated. Mr. Ward seems to have taken a
fancy to me, for I can hardly imagine that he takes
so much pains to oblige every one, absorbed as he is
also in medical practice. He presented me with a
beautiful botanical digger of fine polished steel, with a
leathern sheath, which I suspect he has had made on
purpose for me ; though I don't know why he should
have thought of it. Mrs. Ward was inquiring about
the Abbotts and their works, one of which she had,
which makes her wish for more. I am often asked
about Mr. Abbott, whose works seem much more
generally known here than those of any other Ameri-
can religious author. I must find some for Mrs.
Ward.

Sunday evening, March 3. — I went this morning to
hear, perhaps for the last time, Baptist Noel. The
sermon was from the last three verses of the same
psalm (Ps. ciii.) from which he has preached on the
former occasions when I have heard him in his own
church ; and truly a good sermon it was. I have
told you that the chapel is a large one. Yet it is
so well filled that I have always had some difficulty
in getting a seat, and to-day I actually stood near the
pulpit during the whole service and sermon. But it

1 William Valentine, a very promising young botanist, who wrote
valuable papers on the structure of mosses. Went early to Tasmania)
where he died.

JET. 28.] JOURNAL. 145

is worth while submitting to some inconvenience. In
the afternoon I walked up to Tottenham Court Road,
and looked up the chapel built by Whitfield, the
scene of his useful labors in London. If you read, as
I think you did, Philip's " Life of Whitfield," you
must take some interest in this place.1 I found the
chapel a large but outlandish building, with an in-
scription over one of the entrances, stating that the
building was erected by George Whitfield. Within
is a tablet to the memory of Mrs. Whitfield, who is
buried here, and a monumental inscription to Whit-
field himself (which I regret I did not copy), mention-
ing the date of his death at Newburyport, near Boston.
The preacher this afternoon (for I believe there is
more than one who officiates here) was the Rev. Mr.
Wight, who gave an impressive, practical sermon from
the concluding clause of the last verse1 of Romans viii. :
" The love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
It was, I think, rather above his audience, which I am
sorry to say was exceedingly small. Indeed I hope it
is generally better filled, but I should not have ex-
pected so great a falling off in the attendance of plain
unfashionable people in the afternoon. These Whit-
fieldians are, one would think, farther separated from
the Established Church than Wesleyans (which was
certainly not the case in Whitfield's time, who refused
to take any steps to establish a sect apart from the
Church of England) ; for in the Wesleyan chapel I at-
tended the liturgy was read, but here we had none
of it. Only last summer I read a biography of Whit-
field with much attention ; and it was very interesting
to worship in this chapel of his. It recalls more in-
teresting associations than Westminster Abbey or any
1 Pulled down in 1891.

146 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

vast and splendid cathedral. But I must bid you
good-night, purposing to rise early and have an hour
or so before the pressing business of the day is com-
menced to write another sheet to you and our good
Dr. Torrey, to whom I have so much to say, if I could
ever find time for it.

Friday. — I have been to-day at the British Mu-
seum, studying from the specimens of Plukenet,
Catesby, Miller, etc., etc., the authority for old Lin-
nsean species in Ilex, Prinos, Eupatorium, etc. It is
slow and tedious work, and I shall not have time to do
so much of it as I could wish. Brown told me to-day
about Petalanthera. It is Cevallis, Lagasca, Hortus
Matritensis, and very probably his species, even C.
sinuata. It came from New Spain. You will see Lind-
ley is all astray about the genus, and no one knows its
affinities even, but Brown. Lagasca himself refers it
to Boragineae. It is true Loasea3. I was this even-
ing at Bentham's, and found he had a specimen of C.
sinuata from Hooker, collected by Brydges in Mexico,
I think. I have asked Brown to give us some notes
on the subject, a generic character, etc., that we may
publish a little from his own pen. I am to spend a
day with him next week, and I will try to get some-
thing out of him. He hinted to me some days ago
that he knew something about Cyrilla, but I could
not get it out of him. I '11 try again. He tells me
he has a character to distinguish true Rhexia, which
has escaped Don, De Candolle, etc. We must find it
out. Bentham has given me his " Scrophulariae Indi-
ca3," and the three last parts of his " Labiatae ; " I
have bought the rest (£1 2s. 6d.), and last evening we
looked over his North American specimens, and the
notes in his copy. He gave me also, the other day, the

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 147

only published part of the " Plantae Hugeliaiise " and
a few other pamphlets. He is a liberal soul.

I have got so far behind in my botanical news that
I despair of bringing up arrears, and must leave
very much to tell you in propria persona, if we meet
again. I fancy I have not very much new to learn
on the Continent about microscopes and modes of
working. I have seen much of all the best people
here, last not least Valentine, who lives in the coun-
try, from whom I have derived much useful know-
ledge. He works to some account, which can't be
said of most here, who, though they have the best in-
struments in the world, don't turn them to any im-
portant account. As to Sullivant, tell him to have
great patience. I can get him a capital simple micro-
scope by Ross for six guineas, but I want to get as
useful a one for him cheaper, so I shall wait till I
have been on the Continent, I think. My plan is to
purchase at Paris for him, where the low powers are
good as can be, and supply a lens or two here. . . .

Chapmannia (!) exists in Bartram's old collection
here, which you saw at British Museum, and some
other very lately published things.

I bought a copy of " Flora " for Bennett the other
day, thinking it worth while to offer him something,
as I was taking up much of his time. To-day he
gave me a copy of the published part of the " Plan-
tae Javanicse Rariores," (£2 10s., plain, is the pub-
lishing price), an invaluable work, containing very
many notes and observations on various genera, etc.,
both by Brown and himself, which it is quite necessary
we should see. The notes I have made for the last few
days are not now before me, so that I cannot now give
you any remarks. There is no one thing of very con-

148 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

siderable importance, but much small matter. By the
way, let me say that Bennett thinks that Brown thinks
Romanzovia to be hydrophyllaceous ! Bentham would
give something to know this, but I shall keep it to
myself. I have made out the remainder of Pursh's
doubtful Arenarias and Stellarias from the Banks
herbarium. The parcel of Solidagos, etc., sent to care
of Mr. Putnam, I am glad to say, came to hand. It
did not arrive until last week, however. . . .

Monday evening, twelve o'clock. ... As I sit down
to tell you what I have been about to-day, my thoughts
cross the wide wave that separates us, and brings me
back to 30 MacDougal Street, and to the time when,
returning from town, I used to present myself before
you, give an account of my proceedings, tell you per-
haps some news about that ill-fated expedition of
which you were so sick of hearing ; how it would cer-
tainly sail in a month, or something just as likely.
When thinking of this long separation, I console
myself with the idea that it is better than if I had
gone there. In that case I should now have been your
antipodes. Now there are only some four or five hours
of shadow between us. And, sluggard as you call me
at home, I am up in the morning two or three hours
before you. Tell that to the girls for a wonder ! I
left my room this morning at eleven, walked to Port-
land Place, called on the American minister, who
being unwell I was furnished by the secretary of le-
gation with what I desired, namely, a passport. This
I left, as the manner is, at the office of the French
embassy, that his majesty Louis Philippe may have
fitting notice of the honor that is to be done him, for
the king of the French is, it seems, rather particular
about such matters, and it is a pity not to oblige him,

JET. 28.] TO JOHN TORRE Y. 149

especially as you can't help yourself. This being
done I went on to the Linnsean Society, and by work-
ing at the full stretch of my powers contrived to get
through the Linnsean herbarium (skipping a few
genera now and then) about six o'clock. Returned
home pretty well fatigued, took some tea and toast,
called upon Bentham, whom I found writing letters of
introduction for me. I have them now before me.
They are addressed to Seringe at Lyons ; Requien,
Avignon ; Lady Bentham (B.'s mother) at Montpellier,
with request to make me acquainted with Dunal and
Delile ; Moretti at Pa via ; Visiani at Padua ; Tomasini
at Triest ; linger at Gratz ; Endlicher at Vienna ;
Martius and Schultes at Munich ; Reichenbach at
Dresden ; Poppig at Leipsic. These, with what I
have already from Hooker, Arnott, Greville, Boott,
etc., with a few that I expect at Paris, leave me little
to wish for in ihis respect. About ten o'clock went to
Mrs. Stevenson's party. It was not a very large one,
and in no way especially remarkable. I found there
of course the Bootts (three sizes, viz., Mrs. Boott the
grandmother, Mrs. Boott the mother, and Miss Boott
the daughter) and so of course I was upon good foot-
ing. Our minister lives in neat but by no means
splendid style, quite enough so for a republican ;
and Mrs. S. is very lady-like and prepossessing in
appearance. Mr. Stevenson did not make his appear-
ance. Of course, I did not stay long.

TO JOHN TORREY.

Poor Hunneman died yesterday, after a short ill-
ness. I have spent much time evenings with Mr.
Valentine, whom I like extremely. Excepting only
Brown, he is the best microscopical observer in Great

150 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

Britain. He cares little, however, for proper system-
atic botany, for which I am sorry. He has shown me
some curious things.

I have learned from Brown the character he ob-
served in our species of Rhexia, that is, the true genus
Rhexia : the unilocularity of the anthers. . . .

Tuesday evening, March 12. — After a hard
day's work I finished on Monday evening with the
Linnsean herbarium, which I found more interesting
than I expected and more satisfactory, as it is in
really good state, carefully taken care of, etc. i had
some very good notes to make. I assure you I feel
much gratified to have studied this collection, which,
with the Gronovian, enables us to start fair as to Lin-
naean species. Do you know that Acer saccharinum,
Linn., is A. eriocarpum (spec. Kalm) ! Look at Lin-
naeus " Species Plantarum " (which you have not, un-
fortunately, though it is the most necessary of books ;
you will receive it at the same time as this letter or
nearly) and you will find that the description is all
drawn from Eriocarpum.

I took what time I could to-day for the Gronovian
plants and a few of Plukenet's, etc., but was unable
to finish ; will go to-morrow, for I shall work to the
last moment.

I have been tempted to buy a collection of Hart-
weg's l very fine Mexican plants, which being col-
lected far in the interior of north Mexico are very
North American, and quite necessary, I think, for us.
They will reach you with the other parcels. Be care-
ful about the little labels with the numbers stuck on.
Bentham will publish them presently. . . .

1 Theodore Hartweg, died in 1871. Explored in Mexico and Cali-
fornia, 1836 to 1847; later director of the Grand -ducal Gardens,
Swetzingen, Baden.

JET. 28.] TO JOHN TORREY. 151

Professor Royle, as the agent of India people, I be-
lieve, offers me seeds from Himalaya Mountains,
received, and still to be received, from the government
collectors, in exchange for those of useful and inter-
esting North American plants, which they are desirous
of introducing into India. But as I can't attend to
it until another season, he kindly offers to send to you
a portion of the seeds just received, and to ask you to
distribute them in such way as will be most useful, and
ask those you give them to (say Downing, Hogg, Dr.
Wray, Dr. Boykin, etc., and some one in the valley of
the Mississippi or Arkansas) to collect seeds of trees,
etc. (you can suggest what would be most desirable),
and send them to London, whence they will be sent
in the mails overland to India. As I fear I shall not
see Royle again I shall write him a note, telling him,
as I promised, how to send to you.

I saw Dr. Sims? herbarium, at King's College. ^1
want to look at it to certify a few early " Botanical
Magazine " plants.

Brown came to the museum this morning with a
copy of a curious late paper of Schleiden (which I
had seen before) on the Development of the Embryo,
with a parcel of his own notes on the same subject
made in 1810, 1812, 1815, etc., which did not alto-
gether correspond. Brown thinks much of Schleiden
as an observer. He read me many of his old notes,
and the subject took him to speak of his discoveries
with regard to the embryos of Pinus. To explain
to me as he went on he drew the diagram on the
inclosed slip of paper, and pointed out to me how to
observe in our species of Pinus. This will refresh
my memory as to all he told me, so pray keep it
safely. There is much very curious matter now afloat

152 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

about the process of impregnation and the early de-
velopment of embryo, which I am accumulating, as
much as I can, for future use. Pray tell Dr. Perrine
that the gardeners and botanists here insist by accla-
mation almost that there is no such thing as acclima-
tion in the vegetable kingdom.

What a pickle the Linnaean Ascyrum is in ! I wish
I had room to tell you.

TO MBS; TORREY.
Tuesday morning, two o'clock A. M., March 14, 1839.

I have just finished packing up, being about to start
for Boulogne in steamboat at nine o'clock this morning,
and I must now hastily close my letters. This, or
rather yesterday, has been a busy day with me. I
started in the morning to have a look at a few more
things of Pursh's at Lambert's, but he kept me longer
than I liked. He found somewhere a small parcel of
plants collected by Eschscholz in Kotzebue's voyage,
who sent them to Lambert. Lambert gave me all the
North American ones, few to be sure, but interesting.
From Lambert's I returned by way of the Horticul-
tural Society, to bid good-by to Lindley and Bentham,
but the latter insists upon coming up in the morning
to my lodgings to see me off. I have made a fortu-
nate acquisition for him. He told me he saw, a few
days ago, at an auction some copies of Richard's fine
work on the Coniferae, but an engagement at the time
prevented him from staying to buy a copy of the work
for himself, which he imagined would be sold cheap.
Mr. Putnam found out who bought up these copies,
and obtained one at nearly the price at which they were
sold. I shall have the pleasure of presenting it to
Bentham this morning when he calls. I went to the

JST. 28.] TO THE MISSES TORREY. 153

British Museum, worked hard until four o'clock ; but
was not able quite to finish, so I left my copy of
Gronovius, in which I was making notes, with Mr.
Bennett to keep for me until my return in the autumn,
and took leave of Brown and Bennett. Went to Dr.
Boott's ; saw Mrs. and Miss Boott, who insisted upon
giving me a note of introduction to a friend of theirs
in Florence ; went to the City, dined with Putnam,
down to Well-close Square, took my tea, and bid
good-by to Ward and family, and Mr. Quekett. . . .

TO THE MISSES TORREY.

PARIS, March 18, 1839, Monday evening.

I am now at the Hotel de 1'Empereur Joseph II.,
Kue Tournon, pr£s du Palais du Luxembourg. Here I
have been established for about half an hour, and my
first business shall be to fill this sheet for you. I sup-
pose I must begin at the beginning and tell you how
I came here. Voila. I left London at nine o'clock
in the morning of the 14th inst. (Thursday), stop-
ping on my way to the steamboat which was to
take me to Boulogne, to leave a parcel of letters at Mr.
Putnam's office, to be forwarded to dear friends at
home. It was a nasty, rainy morning ; and our boat
was, as indeed I expected, not very comfortable. The
cabin was well enough, but much too small for the
accommodation of some fifty or sixty persons, and
there was no covering to the deck, nor any deck-cabin,
except two dirty little places for the poorer passengers,
who were not allowed the use of ours ; so we had our
choice the whole day between the soaking in the rain
upon the deck and the close atmosphere of the crowded
cabin. Of course I was vibrating between the two
dilemmas the whole day, but took as much pains as I

154 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

could to keep dry. The only thing I saw worthy of
notice as we went down the Thames was Greenwich
Hospital, of which I will perhaps send a print. I
should add also chalk cliffs, for I never before saw
rocks and hills of chalk. In the afternoon, as we had
fairly got into the Channel, a thick fog came on. The
captain lost his way and seemed in fear that he
should run the boat upon the Sands, so he
dropped anchor about five in the afternoon. We
were to have arrived at Boulogne at nine that
evening. But as I saw there was no great chance
of our moving for some time, I set about making
amends for my loss of sleep the previous night. I took
possession of two thirds of a hard sofa, and, wrapped
in my cloak, was soon in a comfortable doze. I awoke
late in the evening ; and such a sight as there was be-
fore me ! It seems that there were no accommodations
for sleeping on board, or next to none, and the passen-
gers, men, women, and children, were indiscriminately
but thickly strewn over the sofas, chairs, and even
over the whole floor, with portmanteaus, great-coats,
and whatever they could find for pillows, attempting
to secure such rest as they could, — some sixty persons
or more crowded into a space not larger than the cabin
of one of our ferry-boats. . . .

But I was too drowsy to mind it much, and soon fell
asleep again, but awoke in the morning with swollen
eyes and complaining bones. The boat was moving
again, and it was raining as hard as ever. The dis-
tant coast of France soon came in view, and at half
past ten we were landed at Boulogne. We were es-
corted to the custom-house ; what baggage we had
brought in our hands was closely examined by the offi-
cers, an ill-looking, vagabond set ; our passports were

/ET. 28.] TO THE MISSES TORRE Y. 155

taken from us and provisional ones given, which per-
mitted us to go on to Paris, and for which we each had
to pay two francs ; we were then allowed to go to a
hotel and get our breakfast, a privilege which most of
us were not slow to avail ourselves of. I made a hearty
meal of cold roast beef, cafe au lait, excellent bread,
and delicious butter. The two last I have found ever
since I have been in France. I gave my keys to the
commissionaire of the hotel to get my luggage through
the custom-house, and, my place being taken in the
diligence for Paris at two o'clock, having nothing
else to do, I went to the custom-house to see the exam-
ination of the luggage. Lazy custom-house officers
and gendarmes were lounging about, while heavy carts
loaded with baggage were drawn up from the boat by
women ! — and this while it was raining hard, and the
poor creatures were without hats or bonnets, and
had only a handkerchief or a bit of cloth tied over
their heads. So much for this self-styled most refined
and polite nation ! I noticed the poor things when
their task was done and they were waiting to convey
the trunks, etc., from the custom-house to the various
hotels. Some were chatting in groups, apparently quite
content with their lot ; a few were sleeping, and many,
with the characteristic industry of their sex, produced
their knitting-work from their pockets and were busily
employed at a more appropriate and feminine employ-
ment. I was amused at the strictness with which three
exceedingly unpleasant-looking fellows searched all our
baggage, that of the ladies not less than that of the
men. Little parcels were opened, dirty linen was over-
hauled and most minutely inspected ; the whole scene
would have made a fit subject for the pencil of Ho-
garth. My traveling-bag was examined from top to

156 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

bottom, and I began to fear that my trunk, which I had
packed with care, would be sadly deranged, but they
contented themselves with cutting open a packet of
seeds I was taking from the Horticultural Society to
De Candolle, and with seizing as a great prize my
rather formidable parcel of letters of introduction.
This was near causing me to be detained until the next
diligence ; but the commissionaire succeeded in getting
them sent up to the inspector in another part of the
town, upon whom we called, when after due explana-
tion had been made, and one or two of the letters
read, they were formally delivered back to me.

I can tell you what a French diligence is like. It
is just like one of the railroad cars (about three apart-
ments) of the Harlem railroad, for example, mounted
on coach wheels ; the horses are small, lean, shaggy,
and ugly ; some seven of these beasts are fastened,
three abreast and one for a leader, with ropes to the
said diligence ; but how such beasts contrive to draw
such a cumbrous vehicle, loaded with seventeen per-
sons and their baggage, besides a driver and conduc-
tor, I don't well understand, although the beasts are
changed every five or six miles ; but somehow we got
over the ground pretty fast, and came to Paris, over
one hundred and forty miles, in a little less than
thirty hours, although it rained all the first day and
part of the second, and the roads were extremely muddy.

We arrived just before nightfall at Montreuil, a fine
old fortified French town situated on the summit of a
hill and overlooking a broad valley, which in summer
must be quite beautiful; here we dined, and were
charged four francs each for dinner, besides sous to
the garcon. I slept pretty well in the night, during
which we passed Abbeville, where there is said to be

*;T. 28.] TO THE MISSES TORREY. 157

a fine church. We breakfasted at the queer old town
of Beauvais, where there is a fine cathedral, of which
I had a pretty good view. My breakfast (dejeuner
a la fourchette, which is the next thing to a dinner)
cost three and a half francs, for 011 this route you
meet with very English charges. I wished to say
something about the country, but have not room. Suf-
fice it to say that we passed through the town of St.
Denis late in the afternoon, where I did not even get
a glimpse of the very ancient cathedral, and arrived
at Paris just before nightfall. After dinner, in com-
pany with a fellow-passenger, a young Englishman, I
gratified a long-felt curiosity by strolling through the
Palais Royal and some of the principal streets of Paris.
On Sunday I attended church in the morning (after a
vain attempt to find the American Chapel) at the Rev.
Mr. Sayer's English Episcopal Chapel, where I heard
a good sermon ; and in the evening at the Methodist
Chapel, where the Rev. Mr. Toase preached a truly ex-
cellent discourse from Jeremiah viii. 13. All the shops
were open just as on any other day, and the gardens
and parks were all crowded. This morning I went
down to the Jardin des Plantes, stopping by the way
to see the ancient church of Notre-Dame, where I heard
a portion of the Catholic service chanted. ... At
last, after looking at many other buildings and objects
of curiosity, about which I will tell you more presently,
I reached the garden, found Decaisne, who could
speak no English, and I almost no French ; so he took
me to Adrien de Jussieu, who makes out to speak very
tolerable English, and to understand me pretty well.
I left soon to call on Mr. Webb, l who is an English-

1 Philip Barker Webb, 1793-1854 ; a " distinguished English bota-
nist residing in Paris, of vast and varied knowledge. He accumulated
one of the largest herbaria, bequeathed to the Duke of Tuscany." —
A. G.

158 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

man, for whom I had a letter from Hooker ; thence
after looking in vain for " appartements garnis" in
Rue de 1'Odeon, Place de 1'Odeon, etc., I secured my
lodgings here, where I shall be obliged to hear nothing
but French, and where I hope I may catch some of
the language, and after dining at the ordinary at the
Hotel de Lille, where English is spoken, I transferred
myself to my present quarters. But my sheet is full.
I will give you another very soon. Till then, ines
cheres petites soeurs, adieu.

Wednesday evening, March 20. — I must continue
my letter to you on a large sheet of thin French paper,
else I shall have a larger bill of postage to pay than
will be altogether convenient when I send to Havre.
I did not write last evening ; I had no fire in my room,
and after running about all day over streets paved
with little square blocks of stone, which it is very
fatiguing to walk over, I came home fairly tired, and
went to bed soon after nine o'clock. Except calling
on M. Delessert, for whom I had a letter and a small
parcel from Hooker, and whom I did not find at home,
I spent the whole day in looking about the town, see-
ing sights, etc. My first call was at the Louvre, a
large and splendid palace, where I spent an hour or
two in the vast gallery of paintings, which fill a very
large salon and a long gallery, I suppose five hundred
or six hundred feet long, connecting the Louvre with
the palace of the Tuileries. . . .

To-day I have been wholly occupied at the Jardin
des Plantes. Fortunately for me Jussieu speaks a
little English, so I can get on with him pretty well.
But you would have been amused at the attempts
which M. Decaisne and M. Gaudichaud 1 and myself

1 Beaupre* Charles Gaudichaud, 1780-1854; French botanist. Went

#T. 28.] TO THE MISSES TORRE Y. 159

made to understand each other. Still more amused
would you have been to see how I managed to make
a bargain with a bookseller for a few books I wished
to purchase. I feel the want of French sadly, and
have no time for study.

Thursday evening. — I have been again occupied
the whole day at the Jardin des Plantes, and went at
six o'clock to dine with Mr. Webb to meet M. Gay.1
Webb had taken care to ask an English student also,
who speaks French much better than he does English,
who sat between Gay and myself and interpreted when
it became necessary. But Gay speaks a little of what
will pass for English, mixed here and there with
French, so that I got on very well indeed.

Gaudichaud was also there, a very interesting man
if one could talk with him. We were kept rather late,
so that it is now past twelve, so I must bid you good-
night.

Monday evening. ... At three o'clock I went to
the Institute. I found that the room was already
crowded. I inquired for Jussieu and Brongniart, the
only members I could think of that I knew, but they
were not there and therefore I could not get in. After
some time Jussieu came in. But it was then too late,
so I lost the object for which I had given up half the
day. Jussieu, however, took me into the library, which
is worth seeing. I employed the remaining hour or
so in purchasing some prints of remarkable buildings,
etc., in Paris, and I was also tempted to buy a few
engravings from some of the great masters. After
dinner I went to Mr. Webb's, where I looked at plants

round the world in the Bonite, and published the Botany of the ex-
pedition.

1 Jacques Gay, died 1863. Born in Switzerland, and a pupil of
Gaudin.

160 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

for a few hours. He gave me also some autographs
of celebrated botanists, and a few old botanical
books. . . .

Friday evening, March 29. . . . The Garden of
Plants was nearly on my way home ; so I stopped there,
worked for an hour (till five o'clock), went home
(home, indeed !), took my dinner, found myself most
thoroughly tired as well as hungry, having had no
breakfast but a small roll of bread I obtained near
the cemetery ; had a fire kindled in my room, and
commenced writing to you. Just now the little daugh-
ter of the concierge, a little girl of six or seven, who
often waits upon me, has brought me a cup of coffee,
which I have enjoyed greatly, and now feel much re-
stored. French children are all pretty and graceful,
and I am making the little girl's acquaintance as fast
as I can ; for it is difficult for me to understand her
(it seems odd to hear such a little thing speak
French), and in answer to some of my attempts to
speak French to her, she answers, " Je n'entends pas
anglais, monsieur."

What great lies the French newspapers tell ! Yes-
terday morning the paper I was reading at my break-
fast stated that one of the gardeners who had charge
of the bears at the Jardin des Plantes descended into
the inclosure for some purpose, and was seized by the
bears, killed immediately, and almost eaten up before
help was obtained. So when I arrived at the garden
I of course spoke to Decaisne about *it, who was
greatly surprised, for it seems the story was entirely
a fabrication.

I see I have at length filled this large sheet, so I
must say adieu for the present, but hope to-morrow
evening to begin another. Ever I remain,

Your attached, A. G. . . .

JET. 28.] TO MRS. TORREY. 161

TO MRS. TORREY.

Wednesday evening. . . . There is little danger of
my being spoiled in Paris by being overpolished. In
London one must take care to be always comme il
f aut. There I took pains to keep myself rather spruce,
which I have continued here from the mere force of
habit ! ! ! But gentlemen in Paris dress anyhow ; they
don't pay half the attention to the matter it receives
in England ; with the ladies it is perhaps different,
but here I scarcely ever see ladies except in the
streets or shops and restaurants ! At the houses of
botanists I have only seen Mme. Gay, a very plain
and good-natured Swiss lady. As to parlez-vous-ing,
it is not such an easy matter, I assure you. You would
laugh most heartily to see me in the botanic gallery
of the Jardin des Plantes, endeavoring to carry on
a conversation with Gaudichaud or Decaisne ; the
former of whom can scarcely read English, and the
latter can speak only a dozen words. I get out, with
no little difficulty, a few sentences of such French as
has not been heard since the days of King Pepin, I
am sure ; and when that fails me I write in English,
which Decaisne can read, and make him write in
French in return, or else for short sentences speak
very slowly and distinctly. ,From my ignorance of
the language I am obliged to take great pains when I
wish to purchase anything from the shops ; for it is
customary to put on an additional price to English
customers. Fortunately my complexion and the style
of my countenance are so far French that before I
speak I am generally taken for a native, and I some-
times manage to make purchases without saying a
word beyond a monosyllable. So I have to be very
careful to avoid being cheated ; but I am every day
acquiring more knowledge and experience.

162 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

I have been seized with a mania for collecting
prints on a small scale, and shall send home some
very good ones, — to adorn my parlor and study at
Michigan, of course ! There are astonishing quanti-
ties to be found here. I am endeavoring to get all
the portraits of botanists I can, and from this I have
been led to pick up ancient ones, which show the early
state of the art or old-fashioned costumes, etc., and
also a few choice engravings from the old masters ; but
most of these I can obtain better in Italy or Germany.
Tell Dr. Torrey not to be alarmed, for I shall not
spend much money upon them.

As a general thing Paris is not very beautiful. But
there are some magnificent sights, I assure you. At
odds and ends of time I have already seen most of the
ordinary sights which attract the attention of travelers,
but must leave all account of them for the journal from
Paris, which so far is addressed to the girls, though I
fear it will scarcely interest them or any one else. . . .

Decaisne has given me separate copies of his
papers. He is now publishing a most splendid (bo-
tanically speaking) memoir upon the order Lardi-
zabaleae, in which I see he has found out some things
which have been known to Brown only, for a long time.
He will give us copies, J dare say. He is one of the
best botanists here. I like Gaudichaud also very
much. . . .

I have just finished the examination of Michaux's
herbarium, which has proved worth looking over. I
shall write the doctor more particularly, indeed have
already begun a letter for him. Mr. Webb showed me
last evening a letter from Hooker, which contains a
good deal of botanical intelligence for himself and me.
The British Antarctic expedition, he says, is to sail

JET. 28.] TO THE MISSES TORRE Y. 163

positively in August, and Joseph is to go. I wonder
if they will be two years or so in getting off ! ...

TO THE MISSES TORREY.

PARIS, April 1, 1839, Monday evening.

MY DEAR GIRLS, — Jt is rather late, and I have no
fire in my room, to which I have just now returned,
but it is nearly comfortable without one, and so we
will have a few words together before I sleep. My
last and long sheet was closed, I think, on Friday
evening. On Saturday my morning was spent as
usual at the Jardin des Plantes ; returning from
whence I looked along the shops and so on to the
Pont du Louvre, which I crossed ; passed through the
Palais Royal at the most busy season, when it is all
lighted up splendidly, and dined at the Restaurant
Colbert at half past seven. I am patiently exploring
(I should say eating) my way through the mazes of
French cookery, and am trying to select from the
complicated bill of fare the more peculiar and national
dishes, some of which are excellent, others so-so, or
very poor. . . .

To-day I have been again at the Garden, working
as hard as possible, since I have so little time remain-
ing. I dined at half past six at one of the famous
restaurants, just to see how it was managed, and re-
turning spent the early part of the evening with Mr.
Webb, who lives near me.

On my way from the Garden, I stopped at another
church, I believe the only remaining one of large size
and much interest which I had not already seen. . . .
It is called St. Severin, and is very old, having been
built in the year 1210.

This is the first of April, and a fine spring day it

164 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

has been, though the season is little more advanced than
at New York. In two weeks I must be again upon
the wing, and shall soon meet the summer. I want to
see the south of France and sunny Italy. Adieu.

Tuesday evening, April 2. — I intended to have had
time this evening to write several letters, but Decaisne
has been with me, and did not leave until almost
twelve, we had so much to talk about. I have been
all the morning at the Garden ; have worked very
hard, indeed, and have nearly finished there. To-
morrow is like to be a broken day, as I have made an
engagement to see Dr. Montagne 1 and his microscope
at twelve o'clock, which will take an hour or two out
of the very best part of the day. I will try to turn
the fragments of the day to some account. But now
good-night.

" To each, to all, a fair good-night,
And pleasing dreams, and slumbers light."

Monday evening, April 8. ... Saturday was a little
more diversified. I went at eight o'clock in the morn-
ing to Professor Richard's,2 who lives near me, exam-
ined some plants of Michaux, then took my breakfast,
went to the Garden for three or four hours, but returned
at two o'clock to see the Chamber of Peers in session,
M. Gay having provided me with a ticket of admit-
tance, which procured me a very good seat. The mem-
bers all wear a kind of court dress, the military peers
swords, and those who have them display the insignia
of the order of the Legion of Honor, and so forth.
Several new peers were admitted, but before they

1 Jean F. Camille Montagne, 1784-1865 : surgeon in the French
army. Retired in 1830, and devoted himself to cryptogamic botany.

2 Achille Richard, 1794-1852 ; professor of botany in the Ecole de
Me*decine, Paris ; son of L. Claude Richard.

/ET. 28.] TO THE MISSES TORREY. 165

were introduced, a number of peers made some remarks
which could not have been very flattering to them, the
creation of a new batch just at this time having given
much dissatisfaction to the old ones. Among others,
I heard a little speech from the famous Marshal Soult.
Lord Brougham, who is now in Paris, was present. I
recognized him across the room by his homely face,
which he is in the habit of twitching and contorting
incessantly, as if it pained him. He seemed to listen
with much attention.

In the evening I paid a visit to Mr. Spach,1 looked
over plants and so forth until ten o'clock, returned
shivering with cold, for the weather here is like March
in New York. I am now sitting by a large fire, and
yet I am shivering.

Tuesday evening, April 9. — In the morning went
to hear Mirbel 2 lecture at the Sorbonne ; he speaks
so distinctly that I understood him tolerably well in
general. The lecture-room is old and incommodious,
rather better, to be sure, than the accommodation for
the students of the university in the olden time, when
they used to sit upon straw spread in the streets,
but certainly not very fine. I went afterward to the
Ecole de Medecine ; heard the professor of anatomy
for a few minutes ; came away, saw two or three books
that I wanted in a stall belonging to a shop, priced
them ; found the price much higher than I intended
to give, so I named the price I would give ; was amused
with the perseverance of the very genteel madame,
who reduced her price down to within seven francs of

1 Edouard Spach, 1801-1879; native of Strasburg, many years
keeper of the herbarium at the ,Jardin des Plantes.

2 Charles Francois Brisseau Mirbel, 1776-1854 ; one of the most
distinguished vegetable anatomists of the age. His earliest publica-
tion in 1801.

166 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

my offer, and then labored hard to make me take
them. I advanced one franc, but utterly refused to
give a sou more. " Vous n'etes pas raisonnable," says
madame. " Je suis trds raisonnable," I replied, "mais
votre prix n'est pas raisonnable." So I left the shop,
madame very coolly replacing the books on the shelf,
with one eye turned toward me to see if I would re-
lent. I had got some distance down the street when
the boy came running after me, to say that I might
have the books, " mais ils sont tres bon marche." So
much for the way you are obliged to make bargains
here. Went to the Garden, returned to dine here,
paid a little visit to Mr. Webb, and must write the
remainder of the evening.

Thursday evening, April 11. — My approaching de-
parture makes it a very busy time for me. Let me
recollect what I did yesterday. I went first to Baron
Delessert's; studied in his magnificent library until
about one o'clock ; then visited my banker, who is near,
drew some money ; then to a bookseller to arrange some
matters about our " Flora " (which I failed to do) ;
went to the Bibliotheque du Roi, where they have
miles of books and acres of manuscripts, but as it was
not a public day, I did not see half that I wished. I
have made arrangements, however, for a future day.
I went next to the post office, and took a place in the
malle-post (which is very much quicker than the dili-
gence) for Lyons, to go on Monday ; so that the
time of my departure is pretty well fixed. I next
went to learn the time of the departure of the car-
riages for Sevres and Versailles, which places I intend
to visit to-morrow. Then I -met Chevalier, the opti-
cian, by appointment, to consult about microscopes
for an hour or two. . . . Called on M. Gay, with

JST.28.] TO THE MISSES TORREY. 167

whom I found M. Boissier, a Swiss botanist whom I
had often seen at the Garden, and also August St.
Hilaire,1 who returned but a few days since from
Montpellier.

On reaching my room at half past ten, I found a
note from Mr. Webb, saying that M. Spach had a
message for me from Mirbel, and asking me to call if
I had time ; went immediately, but was too late ;
Webb had gone to bed. Returned, arranged ac-
counts, etc., and went to bed myself.

To-day I have been, if possible, still more busy ; at
least I have accomplished more, though I made a bad
beginning. The concierge promised to call me at
eight, but I awoke myself at nine. Consequently it
was past ten before I made my first call, which was
upon Mr. Webb, to know when I was to see Mirbel.
I called next upon Dr. Montagne to get a letter to the
chief curator of the Bibliotheque du Roi, which should
afford me the opportunity of seeing this, the largest
library in the world, on a private day, namely, Mon-
day, the only public day while I stay being Friday,
when I have something else to do. Eh bien. I went
next to the Louvre, and saw the other and best half of
that most magnificent gallery, my passport giving me
a ready admittance. . . . Suffice it to say I saw very
much to admire — some things that I greatly admired
— very much I did not allow myself time enough to be-
come interested in, as well as many works of the old
fellows that one likes to say he has seen. . . . Again in
a cabriolet to the Ecole de Medecine ; looked through
the museum, which was to-day open to the public ; saw

1 Auguste de St. Hilaire, 1779-1853. Accompanied the Duke of
Luxembourg on his voyage to Brazil, where he spent six years, and
published a Flora of Brazil, 1825, and many other works.

168 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

for a moment the examination of a batch of candi-
dates for a vacant professorship by concours ; also
the examination of students in the same way ; then I
visited the Musee Dupuytren, — a surgical museum of
great extent ; then went to the He St. Louis (oppo-
site the Garden) to call on M. de St. Hilaire ; not at
home, so I saved a little time. Next to the Garden ;
looked on my way at the animals, the hyenas, lions,
giraffe, monkeys, etc., besides a few large snakes ; then
called at Mirbel's rooms, who took a great deal of
trouble to show me most curious things in vegetable
anatomy, but of this I will write to your good papa,
who will care much more for it than you. After this
I saw Decaisne for a few minutes at the botanical
gallery ; took one of the young lads with me ; saw the
mineralogical cabinet and that of fossils, which occupy
a new and most beautifully arranged gallery. Here
I saw many of the famous things I have heard so
much of. In the vestibule to this gallery they are
preparing a pedestal for a fine and large statue of
Cuvier. I went next to Jussieu's house, talked with
him for a few minutes, and bid him good-by. On
my way home stopped at Balliere's, the bookseller, to
transact some business ; home ; dined at half past
seven ; went to Webb's, where I like to go of an even-
ing, as I get a good cup of tea (no common thing in
Paris), which, after such a day's work, was very grate-
ful, I assure you ; remained until half past nine ; re-
turned here, took up my pen, and voici the result ;
and if I do not write plainly and neatly, it is no great
wonder, and I trust you will excuse it, for I have
other writing to do also this evening. Besides, I must
rise at seven, as I expect another very busy day. On
my return this evening, I found a polite note from

JET. 28.] JOURNAL. 169

Delessert 1 accompanying a magnificent present, no
less than a copy of three volumes of the " Icones Se-
lects." An invitation for Saturday evening from M.
and Mme. Delessert came with it. I am already en-
gaged to dinner, at half past six, for the same day.

JOURNAL.

Saturday morning, half past seven. — [After an ac-
count of a visit to Versailles, he goes on :] Now bid-
ding adieu to all this most interesting ground, I took
up my march, on foot and alone, for St. Germain,
distant about four miles. From the heights of Lou-
veciennes I obtained the first view of the Seine and
the lovely and broad valley through which it winds.
Here I passed the remains of an elevated and striking
aqueduct which conveyed water to a royal chateau
which formerly stood in the neighborhood, and also,
I believe, to the village of Marly, through which I
passed a little farther on. Then descending rapidly,
I reached again the banks of the Seine, the terrace
of St. Germain being directly before me. It was
now three o'clock. The steep hill was to be ascended
by a winding road, and being somewhat leg-weary,
I stopped a passing countryman's cart ; the lad who
was driving readily gave me a seat by his side, and
thus I rode into St. Germain. The lad was quite in-
telligent, and answered all my questions (when he
understood me) very readily. He set me down close
by the chateau. I gave him ten sous for his trouble,
and we parted on good terms with each other. The
chateau of St. Germain, which was a chief royal resi-
dence before Versailles was built, is more interesting

1 Baron Benjamin Delessert, 1773-1847 ; a French financier and
philanthropist. Associated with De Candolle in the publication of
the Icones Selectee.

170 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

to us as the place where the Stuarts kept their petty
court so many years. It is now converted into a mili-
tary penitentiary, and I was not anxious to examine
the interior, as I am informed scarce any of the
original apartments or furniture remain. The exte-
rior is striking, quite of the old style, built of the
same red bricks as the central portion of Versailles.
What is most worth seeing here is the terrace, a beau-
tiful park, extending for almost two miles along the
brow of the high ridge, with the most beautiful view
from it of the valley beneath and before you, the hills
that bound your view, and the numerous villages scat-
tered here and there. A finer situation cannot be
imagined. The Seine, after passing Paris, makes a
bold, double turn. The view extends quite to Paris
(fifteen miles) though the city is nearly concealed from
view, yet you see the grand Arc de 1'Etoile distinctly.
In the summer it must be surpassingly beautiful. At
four o'clock I descended the steep declivity to the
commencement of the railroad, took a little refresh-
ment ; at twenty minutes past four we started in cars
propelled by steam, and in an hour I was in Paris
and taking my dinner at the Restaurant Colbert.
A pretty good day's work !

Saturday, went to dine at Mr. Webb's ; a little
party, — a bachelors' party, for Webb is single, —
consisting of Dr. Montague, M. Berthelot, M. and
Mme. Ramon de la Sagra, M. Spach and his wife,
and a young Spaniard whose name I do not recollect.
Webb is quite a polyglot ; he speaks French, Span-
ish, Portuguese, Italian, Modern Greek, and I know
not what besides his mother tongue. At half past
nine I left, took a cabriolet for Delessert's, where I
had been invited to an evening party ; found there

.ET. 28.] JOURNAL. 171

several botanists and persons I knew. Delessert re-
ceived me cordially, introduced me to Madame D.,
who I was rejoiced to find spoke English very well.
The suite of rooms thrown open was very splendid,
and communicating with the last was a pretty green-
house, filled with vigorous plants, all in fine bloom ;
the whole, carpeted and lighted, presented a most in-
viting appearance. The brothers Delessert are said
to be very rich, and I suppose can well afford such
an expensive establishment. The party broke up at
eleven. Besides tea, which is quite English, though
the French are getting more into the custom of using
it, we had ices, etc., but nothing else. The whole
affair was conducted without any parade and in quiet
good taste. . . .

Notabilia varia. — Ellimia, Nutt., was described a
little before us by two authors under two different
names : First by Cambessides in Jacquemont's Trav-
els, under the name of Oligomeris ; second by Webb
and Berthollet, " Histoire Naturelle des lies Canaries,"
under the name of Resedella ; Webb has Jacquemont's
plant from the Himalaya and his own growing to-
gether ; they are absolutely the same. I am to examine
them soon, but have scarce a doubt they are even the
same species as ours. Webb has promised me a speci-
men. It is also the Reseda glauca of Delile ex Egypto.
It is curious that the plant should at the same time
be described from almost every part of the world, and
not less so that the three names hit upon should have
all meant the same thing, namely, a reduced reseda.

I have just spent the evening with Gay. He is pub-
lishing Carices in " Annales des Sciences Naturelles ; "
has hit upon some of Boott's notions ; but not all. He
is a laboriously minute observer, and will do pretty

172 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

well, but like Boott inclines to make too many species.
He insists upon describing the small form of C. Hitch-
cockiana from Dr. Sartwell and Kentucky as a dis-
tinct species, in which he may be right. He wished to
name it after me, but I declined the honor, and have
transferred it to Dr. Sartwell, the discoverer, whose
name it is to bear. . . .

Delessert received me very kindly when I called on
him. I must call again soon, and consult especially
his rich library. He showed me a list he had just
ordered from New York ; among which of course was
our " Flora." I should have offered him a copy, but
now it is scarcely worth while. ... I shall not see
De Candolle here. Delessert does not expect him until
May. I shall leave the books and parcels for him
with Delessert, and make De Candolle take back to
Geneva with him all my parcels that I do not wish
to take with me to the south.

April 2, evening, or rather April 3, as it is past
midnight. — I have worked to-day as hard as I could
jump from ten to half past five o'clock at the her-
barium general of the Museum de Paris, and have
finished. Apart from Michaux's plants, of which they
have nearly a set distributed, they are wretchedly poor,
in North American species ; almost none of Lamarck
and Poiret. I except the plants given by LeConte,
Torrey, etc., which are arranged but not incorporated.
The present Gallery of Botany is exceedingly fine and
spacious, and well planned. I have gone carefully
through all Michaux's herbarium (from your limited
time you have made some bad slips in the Carices of
Michaux, which Gay, I am sorry to say, has found
out), noting all dubious matters to be settled by ex-
amination of Kichard's set. I have gone through De

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 173

la Pylaie's herbarium completely and carefully ; I have
examined the herbarium given by Humboldt, — not
complete but said to be as large as Kunth's own set
or more so, and labeled by Kunth ; I have looked at
everything here which I thought could interest us, but
some I found not, such as Cercocarpus ; I have ex-
amined some other separate sets of the same kind. I
am now ready to glance through Jussieu's herbarium,
which is said to contain many Lamarck and Poiret ;
to spend a little time in Richard's, a few hours more
for Desfontaines at Webb's, and perhaps Berlandier's l
plants, though these are distributed through Webb's
immense collection ; this I can do, however, in evenings.
Then a morning or two at Delessert's, which will be
more occupied with examination of books than plants,
will, I believe, finish. Webb has promised to give
me some plants of Labilliardi£re, whose herbarium he
bought, as he did Mercier's, in which he got many of
Nuttall's plants. He has also a collection of Lady
Dalhousie's from North America, all Drummond's,
etc., etc. ; so he is pretty rich in North American
plants, but they are not all arranged yet. Webb has
most generously presented me with a complete copy
of L'Heritier's Works (in sheets) except the " Cor-
nus," which I have this day bought of the Jew Meil-
hac, and for which I was obliged to give six francs. I
shall have the whole bound in two large folio volumes :
" Cornus " and " Sertum Anglicum " in one, " Stirpes
Novae" and " Geraniologia " in the other. I think
thus far that the few copies of the " Flora" I have
given away have turned to good account. I meant

1 Jean Louis Berlandier, died 1851 ; a Belgian. Established as an
apothecary at Matamoras, 1827 or 1828. The first botanist to ex-
plore New Spain. He also made large collections in western Texas.

174 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

to go to Jussieu to-morrow, but Webb has made an
appointment with me to see Dr. Montague (muscolo-
gist, etc.) and his microscope, which is one of the
latest and best of Chevalier, and will enable me to
decide if I may venture upon one for Sullivant.

On Saturday Decaisne told me, almost by acci-
dent, that he was to do the Asclepiadeae for De Can-
dolle's " Prodromus," at the same time showing me a
paper of his on the family that I was unacquainted
with, much to his surprise, but he at once gave me a
copy. You must know, that although I knew no-
thing scarcely of this family when I left you, and now
know little as to general structure, yet I pride myself
a little on my researches in extricating the synonymy
of the species in London, in Herbarium LiiinaBus,
Hort. Clift., Herbarium Gronovius, Banks, Walter
and Pursh, and here of Michaux. Accordingly on
Monday (yesterday) Decaisne and myself had a regu-
lar examination of all the species we could find here,
and I furnished him with all my notes upon the
synonymy, and left with him those I had with me
from your herbarium, to be returned to London in
September next. Decaisne has been with me also all
this evening.

I find that very many of the pamphlets we have
sent from time to time have miscarried, particularly
the copies of my " Ceratophyllacese," sent by Castil-
neaux, and, what is mortifying, Guillemin and Jus-
sieu received copies, but Brongniart and Decaisne
none. I have just sent my only remaining copy
here (for you sent me none) to Brongniart,1 with
an explanation.

1 Adolphe Theodore Brongniart, 1801-1876; distinguished French
botanist, more especially in fossil botany ; professor of botany at the
Jardin des Plantes.

JET. 28.] JOURNAL. 175

There is a second species of Podophyllum from
Cashmere or Himalaya, P. Emodi, also collected by
Jacquemont, from whose specimens Decaisne has
given me a piece. What is most curious, it is six-
androus, and therefore comes into Berberideae except
in wanting the dehiscence of the anthers by valves
(which Decaisne tells me is also the case in Nandina),
and so Robert Brown's views are confirmed. I should
not wonder if the sly old chap had seen a specimen
from Wallich when he appended the note to the
" Congo Voyage " on Berberideae.

Thursday evening, April 4. — Yesterday saw Dr.
Montagne, the muscologist, and examined his micro-
scope thoroughly, which is one of the latest and best
of Charles Chevalier's. To-day I spent the morning
at Jussieu's, looking up Lamarckian species, etc., in
A. L. de Jussieu's herbarium ; was very successful in
Hypericum, but have no time now to give you details.
In the afternoon Webb, by appointment, met me at
the Garden, and we went to see Mirbel, — a man well
worth seeing, I assure you. Webb acted as inter-
preter, when it was necessary, for Mirbel speaks with
such distinctness that knowing what he was about I
could understand him pretty well.

I like Mirbel excessively. Considering I was a
perfect stranger, of whom he knew nothing, I think
he took great pains to show me what I wanted to see.
Sullivant's microscope will be of the same kind as
his, only better, so that he will have the means of
being a second Mirbel. Examined his microscope,
which is a good one, but I think not equal to the best
English ; got some good hints, etc. ; am to call again.
He is very communicative, and you missed much in
not seeing so extraordinary a man. He showed me

176 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

a series of drawings and engravings on which he has
been long engaged, for a memoire on the structure of
roots, — splendid drawings ; and he explained to me
what I before could not form a clear idea about, how
the curious emboitemeiit or thickening of the walls of
cells takes place by the development of new cells
within the old. He showed me what I at once recog-
nized as the so-called gridiron-tissue which I had seen
in England, and I noticed that he explained it in the
same way as Brown. He promised me copies for self
and friends of the late paper of his on Embryologia
in the " Comptes Rendus," just now read before the
Institute (which will also be published with a part of
the plates in the " Annales des Sciences Naturelles "
and finally completely in "Archives du Museum "), in
which he says he has completely upset the new-fangled
notions of Schleiden, Unger, etc. (adopted by End*
licher) ; and, what is remarkable, his investigations on
the subject were made before he knew of their views,
and the publication is only a little hastened on account
of theirs. This evening I have been with Webb, look-
ing up Desfontaines and Poiret plants, also some of
Spach. Did I tell you I have seen a good deal of
Spach of late ? He does not agree well with the other
botanists of the Garden, but there are some good
points about him, and he is mending every day. I
pushed him rather hard upon some of his bad ways,
particularly that of his changing specific names, which
he bore very well. Webb says he is now falling into
an opposite extreme as to species, and will hardly ad-
mit anything to be distinct ; but Webb himself rather
inclines to multiply species, I believe. I am to meet
Spach at his place in the Garden to-morrow morning.
He is married, lately, to Miss Legendre, a relative of

JST. 28.] JOURNAL. 177

Mirbel's, who made his drawings in Marchaiitia, etc.r
— indeed the best botanical artiste in Paris. What a
fine library Jussieu has ! And what a capital advan-
tage it is to have a great botanist for one's father ! I
particularly envy Jussieu his collection of botanical
pamphlets, which fill a large cabinet, all arranged in
families, etc., the largest collection of the kind in the
world, Jussieu thinks. He gave me to-day a little
print of his father taken in the year his " Genera Plan-
tarum" was published. He told me, what I did not
know before, that Bernard de Jussieu superintended
the publication of Aublet's " Plantes de la Guiane." I
could buy that work rather cheap, but think I must
refrain. I bought to-day Schreber's edition of the
"Genera Plantarum," two francs, two vols. in one,
bound, for myself (you have it, I believe), and a sec-
ond copy of "Linnaei Species Plantarum," ed. 3
(which is the 2d Holm., as you know, reprinted pagi-
natim at Vienna). I gave five francs, and shall put it
down for Sullivant, who should have it, unless indeed
you desire to keep it yourself. I have bought (ten
francs) the first four vols. of " Memoires de 1'Insti-
tut," 4to, bound, for library of Michigan. Ventenat's
memoire of Tilia is contained in one, also other botan-
ical papers, and some good old chemical ones, etc.
Webb is to put up for me a small parcel of Labilliar-
di£re's New Holland plants.

I have bought L'Heritier's " Cornus," so now I have
the whole complete, and must get it all bound*

P. S. — I have just discovered that the copy of
L'He*ritier is imperfect. I feel confident that Webb
knows it not, and I of course cannot tell him. I shall
have all bound up in one thick volume.

Monday evening, April 8. — I finished early this

178 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

morning, at Richard's, the examination of those species
upon which Michaux's herbarium is not satisfactory.
Richard boasts of his set as the authentic one (which
is true), but it is not as complete nor as good as the
other, which is partly owing to Richard having di-
vided with Kunth when he could. Michaux must have
made a capital collection, since it has moreover sup-
plied the general herbarium with a pretty extensive
set, and Desf ontaines and Jussieu with many ; others I
meet in the Yentenat herbarium (Delessert). They
say De Candolle has some of Michaux's plants, and
who besides I know not. . . .

But I have something better than all this to tell
you. I have discovered a new genus in Michaux's
herbarium — at the end, among plants ignotas. It is
from that great unknown region, the high mountains
of North Carolina. We have the fruit, with the per-
sistent calyx and style, but no flowers, and a guess
that I made about its affinities has been amply borne
out on examination by Decaisne and myself. It is
allied to Galax, but " un tres-distinct genus," having
axillary one-flowered scapes (the flower large) and a
style like that of a Pyrola, long and declined. Indeed
I hope it will settle the riddle about the family of
Galax, and prove Richard to be right when he says
Ordo Ericarcum. I claim the right of a discoverer to
affix the name. So I say, as this is a good North
American genus and comes from near Kentucky, it
shall be christened Shortia, to which we will stand as
godfathers. So Shortia galacifolia, Torr. and Gr., it
shall be. I beg you to inform Dr. Short, and to say
that we will lay upon him no greater penalty than this
necessary thing, — that he make a pilgrimage to the
mountains of Carolina this coming summer and pro-

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 179

cure the flowers. Please lay an injunction upon Nut-
tall, that he publish no other Short ia, and I will do
the same to Hooker in a letter that I am now writing.
Indeed I think I will tell him some of its chief pecul-
iarities, and then give him leave to publish the extract
in the " Annals of Natural History "if he thinks it
worth while.1

I attended a meeting of the Institute this after-
noon. An election of a correspondent took place,
which ran very close between Charles Buonaparte and
Agassiz, but the latter carried it !

I must not forget to tell you about the Loganiaceous
plant from Florida, for so Decaisne, to whom I gave
leave to sacrifice a flower for drawing, has determined
it to be ; so Brown's hint is confirmed. There is
something rather queer about the style, which, as
Brown's " Prodromus " is not before me, I cannot say
is also the case in any of the subgenera or genera he
has indicated.

Euploca, Decaisne says, is certainly apocyneous.
Nuttall, I believe, places it in Boraginese.

April 9. — I heard Mirbel lecture to-day, commen-
cing his course at the Sorbonne. He is a very good
and clear lecturer, of the colloquial sort, and illus-
trates very well by rapid sketches on the blackboard.
I believe you did not see him. In the contour of his
features and in expression he is a good deal like Dr.
Peters, except that his countenance is more attenu-
ated, his features small and very little prominent, and
his complexion light. At the Ecole de Medecine I
was not fortunate enough to hit the chemical profes-
sor. I heard a portion of a lecture in the anatomical
theatre, but soon came away.

1 The rediscovery of Shortia in 1878 is described on p. 682.

180 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

I have had another fine lesson from Mirbel. He
showed me all the drawings of the paper, of which I
send three copies. I quit to-day.

LYONS, Wednesday evening, April 17, 1839.

At six o'clock precisely the malle-postes for every
part of France began to leave, one after the other :
that for Lyons came up; our baggage all in, our
seats selected and arranged for us, in ten seconds we
were in our places, and before the word adieu was
fairly beyond my lips we were off at full speed. We
took the route by Burgundy, passed Sens in the night,
breakfasted at six next morning at Auxerre, and dur-
ing the day should have passed through Autun, but I
believe we did not ; passed Chalons-sur-Saone at dusk,
and arrived at Lyons at six precisely the next morn-
ing, — a rather fatiguing ride, but I saved much time
over the diligence, which would have been even more
fatiguing. The mail-coach takes four passengers only,
three inside and one with the conducteur; it is
drawn by seven horses guided by a postillion, in boots
almost as high as himself, and the horses are changed
every five miles or thereabouts. The time it took to
change the horses I believe never exceeded a minute.
I timed them once or twice by the watch, and we were
moving again before the expiration of the minute. The
country through which we passed was more fertile and
in better cultivation than what I saw of Normandy ;
it was beautiful but monotonous, except the latter
part, which grew quite picturesque as we approached
the Rhone and the rivers that fall into it. ...

Lyons is finely situated just above the confluence
of the Saone and the Rhone, occupying the space be-
tween the two rivers and also the other bank of the

MT. 28.] JOURNAL. 181

former. It has two beautiful and very steep hills,
between which the Saone winds, which add much to
its appearance. . . .

April 25. — I broke off here some time ago, and left
a space which I intended to fill up the first spare mo-
ment, by telling you what I saw at Lyons ; what kind
of a town it is ; how I might possibly have seen Mont
Blanc from it had it not been a rainy day ; how I
called on Seringe,1 saw the little botanical garden,
took notice of many little contrivances, particularly
the way he keeps the aquatic plants wet ; how he went
with me to the Academic of Lyons, the branch of the
University of Paris. ... I could also describe the
manufacture of velvet, which I also saw, but for all
these things time does not permit ; a good opportunity
of sending to New York occurring to-morrow morn-
ing. So I must leave the hiatus. . . .

I was called this morning at a quarter before four ;
went down to the steamboat, which was to start
promptly at five, but which did not until half an hour
later, — a narrow comfortless vessel, with no awning
or protection for the decks, in which point, and in the
lack of all comfortable arrangements, it is just like
every other steamboat I have seen since I left New
York, those between Liverpool and Glasgow alone
excepted. The Rhone, even at Lyons and far below,
merits pretty well the epithets applied to it, where
it " leaves the bosom of its nursing lake," — " the blue
rushing of the arrowy Rhone," for it is rapid the
whole course. At Lyons it has a blue tint like that
of the ocean, though not so deep. Well, we were off
at length, and aided by the current we made very

1 Nicolas Charles Seringe, 1775-1856 ; professor at Lyons. Seringia
named for him.

182 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

satisfactory progress. The distance by post between
Lyons and Avignon is one hundred and sixty-seven
miles, but including all the turnings of the river it
must be much more ; however, at six o'clock and a
quarter the spires and battlements of Avignon, lighted
by the setting sun, were in sight, and a beautiful sight
they were as we drew near. The wall of the city, built
by Pope Innocent VI. in the twelfth century, is still
perfect, and very pretty, the architecture being what
I should have thought Moorish (judging from pictures
merely) ; the numerous spires of this very ecclesiasti-
cal town rising above it ; the huge rocky elevation next
the river, — the site of the ancient fortress, and of
old temples, churches, etc., — and not least the ruined
bridge of very ancient date, that still throws its beau-
tiful arches half across the river, the lovely Italian
landscape around, so fresh and green, the distant
mountains encircling the whole, made it altogether as
delightful a scene as one could wish to behold. But
you must know that I am now in the region of the
olive and myrtle, and have in the short space of three
days concentrated, as it were, the pleasure we experi-
ence in watching the gradual approach of summer.
The season is said to be later than usual at Paris ;
it is like April in New York, — a few warm days, but
the evenings all chilly and most of the days raw and
unpleasant. The horse-chestnut trees of the Tui-
leries were just bursting their buds ; but every hour
since, and particularly to-day, I have noticed little by
little the advance. Here nearly all the trees have
assumed their foliage, — that pure and delicate vernal
foliage which we always so much admire, but which
you enjoy very much to come upon in the way I have
done, instead of waiting week after week, with every

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 183

now and then a snowstorm, just to keep winter in re-
membrance. But I must not forget that I have seen
snow also to-day. The summit of Mont Ventoux,
which we have had in full sight since twelve o'clock, is
covered with snow, its brilliant whiteness contrasting
finely with the craggy brown mountains of lesser ele-
vation, as with the green fields and tender foliage of
the valleys. There is nothing very grand in the
scenery of the Rhone from Lyons to this place. The
upper portion is very much like the Hudson between
New York and the Highlands, but I think scarcely as
fine, if you make due allowance for the effect of the
old villages, etc. (not half so comfortable as ours
surely, but much better adapted to improve the beauty
of the landscape), with now and then a gray ruin,
which is a vast improvement. But from Tournon
quite to Avignon, the scenery quite surpasses the
Hudson, and exhibits such variety, moreover, that you
are charmed continually : now bold and magnificent
even; again, picturesque, particularly where the ba-
saltic rocks, for it is wholly a volcanic country, form
parapets like the Palisades, but much more curious and
diversified, the more friable material being worn away
in places, leaving columns and salient portions in all
fantastic shapes. And again, especially in the lower
portion, we see the hills widely separated, leaving most
beautiful broad valleys between, with high mountains
for a distant background. At St. Esprit we passed
under the curious old bridge built in the eleventh cen-
tury, which is still in as perfect a state apparently as
if finished but yesterday. It is three thousand feet
long, and is said to be the longest bridge in Europe ;
it consists of twenty-six arches, and each abutment
has also a little arch above it. We passed other

184 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

very pretty or striking views of which I should like
vastly to have good prints, but I do not know whether
any person has of late been illustrating the Khone.
But I must come to a close, not to fatigue you longer.
I arrived at the most excellent Hotel du Palais Royal
(recommended by Bentham) just in time for the table
d'hote at seven o'clock, and after dinner sallied out,
with a guide to conduct me to see Requien,1 to whom
Bentham had given me a letter. I found him a prompt
man, and in almost ten words we settled my plan for
to-morrow, which is to start in a cabriolet for Vau-
cluse at five o'clock in the morning, arrive at eight,
spend two hours, breakfast, and return here by one
o'clock ; spend the afternoon and evening in seeing the
most interesting objects in town, looking at his collec-
tions, his pictures, etc., etc. What would you give to
see Vaucluse? I have many doubts whether it will
equal my expectations, which are raised by the descrip-
tion ; according to the account it must be very curi-
ous arid strange, apart from the associations of the
place, which here pass for little with me, as I feel no
interest at all in Petrarch or Laura, whoever she may
have been.

AVIGNON, Friday evening, April 19, half past eight o'clock.

I think you will scarcely call me an idle lad. It
was about midnight when I went to bed last night ; I
was called this morning at half past four ; a few min-
utes past five I was on my way in a cabriolet for Vau-
cluse, with a very lazy horse, so that it was nine
o'clock when I arrived. I visited the famous fountain,
admired the rocks, etc. ; collected a few plants as a

1 Esprit Requien, 1788-1851 ; a pupil of A. P. de Candolle at Mont-
pell ier. Often quoted in the Flore Franqaise.

JET. 28.] JOURNAL. 185

souvenir ; took my breakfast, a very substantial one,
consisting in part of delicate trout from the stream
which issues from the fountain ; left at eleven, arrived
at Avignon again at half past two ; saw the Requien
museum of antiquities, which is rich, the paintings, the
little botanic garden ; saw also Requien's library and
collection of plants, etc ; made arrangements for cor-
respondence ; climbed the rocky hill which overlooks
the town and river ; enjoyed the view ; visited the ca-
thedral (a small affair) which stands upon it ; saw the
old papal palace, now converted into a prison ; returned
to the Hotel Palais Royal, and a most excellent hotel
it is, which I hope you will patronize the first time you
come to Avignon ; dined at seven, having first secured
a place in the diligence for Nimes at ten o'clock this
evening, where I hope to arrive by daylight and be
ready to go on the same day to Montpellier, where I
prefer to pass the Sabbath. Now I think this is do-
ing pretty well. . . .

MONTPELLIER, Saturday evening, April 20, 1839.
At twelve o'clock I left Nimes; rode through a
highly fertile and level country, mostly occupied with
vineyards, getting now and then a distant view of
the mountains of Cevennes on the right, and soon of
the Pic San Loup, by which I knew we were not very
far from Montpellier. At this last place we arrived
at five o'clock precisely, and here I am quartered at
the most comfortable hotel imaginable, the Hotel du
Midi. All my stopping-places being indicated to me
by Bentham, I have no difficulty in choosing where to
stop. Here you are not put into a little seven by nine
chamber up five pairs of stairs, as is the inevitable lot
of a single man traveling in the United States, but

186 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

I have a room like a large parlor, airy, the two
windows looking into a pretty shady garden, a sofa,
cushioned chairs, and every convenience you can think
of. The town itself has nothing pleasant except its
situation, but there are in it two delightful spots, which
I sought at once, after having taken my dinner, — the
Esplanade, very near me, an elevated plateau planted
with trees, from which you have an extensive view of
the country around. From this I had my first view
of the Mediterranean, distant, I suppose, about eight
miles ! At the opposite side of the town is the Place
du Peyrou, one of the finest squares in the world, on
a fine elevation, descending by bold terraces into the
country around, the green fields coming up on one
side close to the parapet. The view is beautiful and
very extensive, the Mediterranean on one side, the Pic
San Loup and the mountains of Cevennes on the
other, while toward the south, it is said, the Pyrenees
may be seen in very clear weather. From this point
I discovered the Botanic Garden, the oldest in Europe
and in many respects still the finest. So I descended,
sought out Delile the director, who it seems expected
me, and expressed his delight in a most exaggerated
and truly French manner. I stayed with him until
nine o'clock ; returned here, commenced this, but be-
ing fatigued soon gave it up and went to bed.

Monday morning, April 22. — Nearly all of the fore-
going has been written this morning ; but I cannot
stay longer, as I should be stirring. There are many
Protestants in Montpellier, it is said, but I fancy that
they are chiefly not very pious, and as I should not
understand the language well enough to be benefited,
I thought it better to spend the Sabbath by myself.
This was my first Sabbath on land in which I have not

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 187

attended divine worship conducted in the English
language.

Tuesday morning, April 23. — As early as possible
in the morning yesterday I called on Lady Bentham,
the mother of my good friend who has taken so much
pains to aid me and her daughter, Madame Duchesnil ;
they live quite retired, and are occupied in directing
the education of the son of Madame Duchesnil, a fine
lad of about thirteen. . . . The ladies received me
with great cordiality. I prolonged my call to an hour,
and accepted an invitation to take tea with them this
evening. ... I went to the Garden, called upon M.
Dunal,1 the best botanist here, who, having lived single
to the age of I should say fifty years, has found out
that it is not good to be alone, and has just taken a
wife. I did not stay very long, as I found when I
called that he was not in his study, but I suppose in
his drawing-room, and I could not be so cruel as to
keep him from the company of his beloved.

I called next upon Delile,2 but as he was not in, I
spent a long time in looking over the Garden, noticing
all the little details and arrangements that it would be
useful for me to know. On his return we spent the
remainder of the afternoon in looking over his plants
collected in America. I dined with him at six o'clock,
and spent nearly all the evening. . . . They have not
water enough, however, to supply the Botanic Garden
sufficiently, which has a very barren soil, and in this
dry climate, where it seldom rains from this time till

1 Michel Felix Dunal, 1789-1856 ; professor of botany at Montpel-
lier. " One of the earliest friends of A. P. De Candolle. Author of
several important monographs " [A. G.].

2 Alire Raffeneau Delile, 1778-1850; director of the Garden of
Agriculture established at Cairo. Later he succeeded De Candolle in
the Botanic Garden, Montpellier. A celebrated botanist.

188 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

October, it suffers greatly. The first view of this
garden is very striking, but upon a more careful ob-
servation I see less to admire. Still I learn some
thing from every garden I visit.

Previously to calling on Lady Bentham I had ac-
cepted an invitation to dine this evening with Captain
Gordon, a retired officer of the British army residing
here, a friend of the Bentham family, who, hearing
from Lady Bentham and Delile that I was soon ex-
pected here, called par hasard at the Hotel du Midi,
to request that they would send him word when I
arrived. On finding me he insisted on my dining with
him this evening. I have this moment, while I was
writing, received a note from Lady Bentham, asking
me to call on her this morning, saying she has a col-
lection of plants made by herself for her son George
at some interesting locality among the mountains, a
set of which she is to have ready for me, knowing, as
she says, that George would surely offer them to me.
Although I had arranged my time a little differently,
of course I shall call immediately after breakfast.
Lady B., who is now very aged, is evidently a very
superior woman ; she is a very good botanist also,
therefore, as I do not know the plants of the south of
Europe very well, I am a little afraid of her.

Marseilles, April 25, Thursday evening. — I broke
off my narrative on Tuesday morning, two days ago.
I must continue my brief account, and then close my
letters to send from this port. After breakfast, Cap-
tain Gordon called on me, and we went together to
Lady Bentham. We found his dinner hour so late
that we were obliged to give up the expectation of
returning to take tea with the ladies here. Delile
joined us, and soon after I went with him to see the

,KT. 28.] JOURNAL. 189

museum of painting and sculpture, which, by a curi-
ous circumstance, is the richest in France, except
that of Paris. There are not a few of originals of
great masters ; two or three Raphaels ; as many of Sal-
vator Rosa, Rubens, Poussin, Carlo Dolci, etc., many
of which I know from engravings. We went next to
the Medical School, which occupies the former palace
of the archbishop, who was ousted at the time of the
revolution. This is one of the oldest medical schools,
and for a long time very celebrated. It is declining
now ; they have no professor of very great talent at
present, except Lallemand. I was shown the gallery
of portraits of the professors from the commencement
almost, a prodigious number, and some of the old fel-
lows very queer to look at. I saw also the library,
the collection of manuscripts, classical, theological, a
few Persian, Arabic, etc., which fell into their hands
some years ago.

Thence we went to the Garden, looked at plants,
but did not get on very much, Delile being fonder
of telling long stories, complaining all the while how
much he is pressed by his avocations, than of work-
ing hard. I then arranged my baggage, took a place
in the diligence for Marseilles, called again on Lady
Bentham, to take leave ; dined with Captain Gordon,
returned, and went to bed.

Rose on Wednesday (yesterday) morning at half
past four; took diligence at five, arrived at Nimes
at half past ten ; had time to take another survey of
the Amphitheatre, the Maison Carree, and so forth ;
took breakfast at half past eleven ; off again at twelve,
passed in sight of Beaucaire and Tarascon; crossed
the Rhone, here a large river, near its mouth at
Aries, a curious old town which has nothing modern

190 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

about it, and thus was again in Provence. The
court of Constantine the Great was for several years at
Aries, which was celebrated for its refinement, and the
women and children are said to be still handsome and
graceful. Certainly nearly all I saw, young or old, were
comely, and many handsome. They are all brunettes,
and not a little sunburnt ; but their black hair, large
dark eyes, and long eyelashes appear to advantage.
We were soon on the road again, traveled over an
immense plain, bordered on the north by a long ridge
of mountains, composed of naked jagged rocks, — a
picturesque range, in fine contrast to the fertile plain
from which it abruptly rises. They are, I believe,
the mountains of the Durance. At length the plain
became as barren as the mountains ; night came on,
and rather late in the evening we reached Aix, took
our supper. ... I slept pretty well, and when I
awoke we were in sight of the town and bay of Mar-
seilles, the latter superb as seen from the elevated
place of our view ; but the town did not present such
an imposing view as I had been taught to expect. . . .
Genoa, April 27, 1839. Saturday evening. — I
have just finished my afternoon and evening stroll
through this, to me, the first Italian city : the birth-
place of Columbus, the city of the Dorias, the rival
and even the conqueror of that other proud republic
of the Middle Ages, Venice, in remembrance of which,
huge pieces of the chains which were employed to bar
the harbors of the latter city are suspended from the
gates of Genoa. We arrived in the bay before twelve
o'clock to-day, and during our gradual approach to
the town enjoyed the view to the full ; both the dis-
tant view and the near are very fine, — equal, I may
say, to what I expected, which is saying a great deal.

*:T. 28.] JOURNAL. 191

As seen from the bay it certainly deserves the name
its citizens long ago gave it, — Genoa the Superb.
You have the whole completely before you in one
view, the buildings rising one behind the other, the
fortifications that overtop the whole, with the vast
mountain amphitheatre for a background. . . . You
are not much disturbed with the rattling of carriage
wheels here. With the exception of one street, and
this a new one (Strada Nuova) at least as to its
present dimensions, they are barely wide enough for
a wheelbarrow, and mostly too steep for a carriage,
even if they were wider. The houses are very high ;
six, seven, or eight stories being very common, indeed
usual, so that the streets are mere chinks or crevices.
I found the same advantage from this in Avignon
and the other towns of the south of France, that is,
the perfect protection afforded these warm days from
the heat of the sun. You are sure of shade ; and
the air is so dry that none of the inconvenience and
unhealthiness results which would surely be the case
in other countries. I am at the Hotel des Etrangers,
not far from the quay, and my room, five or six stories
high, looks down upon the harbor and bay. It is
nine o'clock in the evening. The light is burning
quietly in the light-house, a tall and very slender
column at the entrance of the harbor, forming a bea-
con which is visible far and wide. I don't know as I
may say that

" The scene is more beautiful far to my eye
Than if day in her pride had arrayed it; "

but it is much softer. The evening gun has just
been fired off from one of the batteries next the sea,
the signal, I suppose, for closing the harbor, and the
echo sent back by the hills on either side was pro-

192 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

longed and repeated fainter and fainter for nearly a
minute. . . .

The coast at Marseilles and that I saw yesterday
may be described in a few words : bare, jagged, sterile,
rocky mountains ; scarcely high enough to be pictur-
esque, perfectly destitute of verdure, barely support-
ing here and there a few stunted olive-trees. We
passed Toulon and had a distant view. We sailed
between the mainland and the islands of Hyeres, so
remarkable for their fine climate and healthfulness,
but they did not look very inviting to me.

When I rose this morning the scenery had become
bolder and more interesting. We were where the
Alps first come down to the sea, and we have since
sailed along a coast so closely skirted by the Maritime
Alps, the chain which passing into Italy forms the
Apennines, that there is scarcely room to construct a
road between. The loftier peaks, the whole day, were
covered with snow, in fine contrast with the gray and
sterile cliffs below and the dark blue sea which seems
to lave their base, for the Mediterranean has the deep
azure tint of mid-ocean quite up to the shore. There
are many pretty villages also, which either seem hung
on the mountain's side or to rise out of the water. In
one place I counted twelve in a single view, by no
means a wide one. We passed Savona, the town
where the pope lived while Napoleon was master of
Italy. Here the hills are more fertile, and vines,
olives, and oranges are cultivated wherever room or
soil enough to plant them can be found. . . .

IN THE HARBOR OF LEGHORN, Monday evening, five o'clock.
I must tell you of the pretty view I had Saturday
night. My room, I think I mentioned, looked directly

MT. 28.] JOURNAL. 193

into the bay, and also gave me a fine view of the
western part of the town, the mountains of that side
of the bay, and peeping over them, the sharp crests of
the Maritime Alps, still white with snow, and looking
rather like bright clouds than a portion of terra firma.

While I was sleeping soundly, about two o'clock
in the morning the moon shone into the window
directly into my face, and thinking it a pity I should
lose so fine a sight, she awoke me. She was near her
full ; she hung in the middle of the bay at just the
proper angle that the flood of golden light she was
pouring upon the tranquil sea was reflected directly
to my eyes. The city, too, looked beautiful indeed, and
the mountains, and even the Alps, were all visible. I
enjoyed it for a long time, and went to bed again re-
gretfing that I had no one to share the scene with me.1

There is or was a British chapel here, belonging to
the British embassy, but 'I could find nothing of it,
and so spent the Sabbath by myself, which was as well
perhaps. At seven in the evening our boat left, and
I was obliged to continue my voyage. I wrapped my-
self in my cloak and slept soundly and quietly, and
when we reached the harbor of Leghorn at five o'clock
awoke refreshed, vigorous, and in the finest spirits.
I obtained a light breakfast on board ; at seven o'clock
was ashore ; in five minutes more was in a cabriolet
and on the road to Pisa, distant from here fourteen
Tuscan miles, which make, I should judge, about ten
English ones. My bargain was that I should be driven

1 There is a gigantic statue of Columbus, placed in a conspicuous
place and looking down into the harbor. They make very much of
him now, as well they may ; they derided him when living, they set
up his image long after he is dead. Of course we are very much
obliged to him, for if he had not discovered America what would have
become of us ! — A. G.

194 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

to Pisa in two hours at farthest, have two hours and
a half there, and be returned again safe and sound be-
fore two o'clock. This was easily accomplished ; the
journey being made in less than two hours, I had the
more time there, quite as much, indeed, as I wished.
It is a great comfort to be able to leave a place the
moment you have done with it, and so avoid being
sated with it. I had a letter and a little parcel from
Mirbel to deliver to old Savi,1 the professor of botany
in the university ; so I was dropped at the door of
the university, once so famous, but now far from
formidable. I found Savi, gave my letter, was in-
troduced to his two sons, the one professor of nat-
ural history, the other assistant professor of botany,
who showed me through the museum, which was in-
teresting, the botanic garden, which was not m'uch;
I then set out to see the four chief lions, the Duomo
or cathedral, the Baptistery, the Campanile or famous
leaning tower, and the Campo Santo, which all stand
near each other and are soon dispatched. In fact they
are the separate parts of a cathedral, the Campanile
being, as the name denotes, the bell-tower, and the
Campo Santo the burial-place. . . .

The vine in Tuscany is not kept close to the ground
as in France, but is trained in arbors and festoons
along the borders of wheat-fields, and when their
leaves appear must add very much to the beauty of
the country. One here could sit under the shade of
his vine, which would be out of the question in France.
But the boat is leaving the harbor. On the right we
can dimly discern the northern extremity of Corsica.
Elba we shall pass in the night, and sometime in the
course of the morning be landed in Civita Vecchia.
1 Gaetano Savi, 1769-1844.

ACT. 28.] JOURNAL. 195

I have made the acquaintance of an English clergy-
man of warm piety, who is in ill health, who has been
obliged to reside for several years in Nice in the
winter, and at Interlaken in Switzerland in the sum-
mer, at both of which places he preaches regularly.
He has traveled in Greece, Turkey, and Asia Minor,
and passed much time with our missionaries there, of
whom he speaks in the warmest terms. His name is
Hartley. We shall go on in company to Rome.

ROME, 1st May, 1839, Wednesday evening.

And I am indeed in Rome. This is enough to re-
pay one for long and tedious journeys and even for
transient separation from friends, and when I leave
this place I feel as though my face was set homeward.
I feel it is something to be in Rome. . . .

I distinctly recollect the time when, a very small
boy, in the course of a long ride with a relative, the
story of Romulus and Remus was first related to me,
and how it struck my wondering fancy. And I recol-
lect most perfectly my first lesson in Yirgil, and how,
commencing with " Arma virumque cano," I slowly
worked my way into the mysteries of Latin prosody
and the story of the JEneid. Little did I think in
those days that I should ever stand within the " walls
of lofty Rome ; "

" Should tread the Appian

Or climb the Palatine, and stand within those very walls
Where Virgil read aloud his tale divine."

My enthusiasm has risen by degrees, for I arrived
here this morning, after a delay at that most wretched
of all places, Civita Vecchia, where an Austrian sol-
dier, stationed there, told us he was sent as to a kind
of earthly purgatory to do penance for his sins ; after

196 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

being subjected to those numberless petty exactions
by which the purse of the pope is replenished from
the pockets of us poor Protestants, after tedious de-
lays on the road, and a most uncomfortable ride for
the whole night, which altogether is enough to put one
in a bad humor with everything, — after all this you
may be sure I found myself in such a prosaic care-f or-
nothing mood that it was a long time before I could
feel the interest which the Eternal City is calculated to
inspire. A fog in the morning prevented us from a
good view on our approach ; the streets of the modern
town through which we passed were mostly devoid of
interest, and we saw nothing but the dome of St.
Peter's and the Castle of St. Angelo. However, we
got established at the Hotel d'Allemagne, and took
breakfast. Mr. Hartley, being worn out by the jour-
ney, took to his room for the day, and I was left to
myself. Though perfectly ignorant of localities here,
I was determined not to be deprived of the satisfac-
tion of discovering the most interesting places for my-
self. My guide-book (Madame Starke) describes ob-
jects somewhat particularly, but gives no information
as to where they are to be found. I hate the chatter
of a cicerone, and felt confident that I should stumble
upon something worth seeing. So I climbed the hill
just before me by a magnificent flight of marble steps,
where the Egyptian obelisk stands which the inscrip-
tion says was found in the Circus of Sallust. I saw
an imposing building at the end of a long avenue, on
the summit of a rise which I afterwards learned was
the Esquiline Hill. On reaching it and examining
the interior I found by the guide-book that it was the
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. These basilicas,
retaining the name of ancient structures, are a larger

*:T. 28.] JOURNAL. 197

kind of churches, which were mostly established upon
the foundations of ancient temples, or they were these
temples themselves turned into churches. . . .

As I emerged from the Coliseum I stood between
the Palatine and the Coelian Hills, the Arch of Con-
stantine just before me, the Arch of Titus in view on
the right hand, and just beyond the Roman Forum,
all crowded with ruins ; the very soil is mouldering
brickwork and fragments of columns. Here I spent
the greater part of the morning, silent and undis-
turbed, finding out by the description the ruins as they
presented themselves. . . .

The journal is so long that most of the Italian, more
especially the Roman, journey must be omitted. Dr.
Gray, as is shown, was a busy sightseer, enjoying the
historical and romantic associations with his natural
enthusiasm. Here began his great love of painting,
of sculpture, and of architecture ; he carried the de-
tails of churches and cathedrals in his memory re-
markably, recognizing quickly a print or photograph
of something he had seen perhaps thirty years before ;
he had the memory for form which helped him so
much in his science. He was a good critic of paint-
ing and enjoyed extremely his favorite pictures, liking
to wander off alone to enjoy them. Titian on the
whole ranked highest in his estimation. He enjoyed
much of the old church music, though his preference
in music was for simple songs, hymns especially, and
the old tunes to which words had long been wedded.
There are many quotations from Byron and Rogers in
the original journal. For Byron, with his brilliant
descriptions and versification, he always kept much
feeling ; and his great love of natural scenery had
full play.

198 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

TO MBS. TORBEY.

LEGHORN, May 8.

Whenever I have an hour to spare I know of
no pleasanter mode of occupying it than by writing to
you, for to you my thoughts, whenever they are at
rest, spontaneously revert. I have yet an hour before
the vetturino starts for Florence, and I may as well
commence another sheet, the first of a series which I
may be unable to send you for several weeks, as I here
leave the Mediterranean, loveliest of seas, and ex-
cept I find an American ship on the Adriatic, which
is not very probable, I must keep them all until I
reach Hamburg. I have just closed a formidable
packet of journal, to be sent from here in the ship
Sarah and Arsilia, which is to sail for New York
next week. . . .

I am very well satisfied with my visit to Rome. In
the brief space of time I spent there I saw everything
I wished except the pope himself, and I believe I had
a glimpse of him ; one statue of Michael Angelo's,
which I only learned about when it was too late ; the
Catacombs, where the early Christians used to con-
ceal themselves, which are some miles off ; the monu-
ment of Cecilia Metella, which is not handsome, but is
immortalized by three or four singularly sweet stanzas
in "Childe Harold;" and the Basilica of St. Paul,
which is some distance out of the city, and was nearly
destroyed by fire about ten years ago. This is a very
small list compared with what I have seen, so I am
quite content. I wish you could see Rome ; there is
so much that you would enjoy in the highest degree,
and it is laying up a fund to be enjoyed afterwards as
long as you live.

^:T. 28.J JOURNAL. 199

It is now just sunset, and the air is remarkably
balmy, — a mild sea-breeze, just enough to fan you.
And let me tell you, however, as to Italian skies and
sunsets that they are not a bit superior to our own.
You may enjoy from your own parlor windows finer
sunsets every clear day in summer than I have yet
seen in Italy ; though they certainly are very near
ours. It is only to those who are accustomed to
British clouds and fogs that they are remarkable.

The peripatetic grinders of music upon hand-organs
so common in all our towns are usually Italians, and
I supposed that street music here was of much the
same kind. This is a mistake. I have not seen such
a thing in Italy or the south of France. You have
universally the harp, commonly two players in concert,
and very frequently a violin also for accompaniment,
and the music is always creditable. At Avignon,
the very land of troubadours, we were serenaded at
dinner with a concert of harps, guitars, etc., but when
they called for the coppers we found, shame to this
degenerate age, that the troubadours were all women,
and of the most unromantic appearance possible. The
patois of all this part of France and of Piedmont,
however, is the same as the language in which the
trouveres are written, and one who understands the
patois as now spoken can read the former without
difficulty.

The Italian language is very soft and musical, far
more pleasant to the ear than the deep nasal tones of
the French.

JOURNAL.

FLORENCE, May 9, Thursday evening.

Finding Jittle more that I could do to-day, I then
called at the residence of Mr. Sloane, a descendant of

200 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

Sir Hans Sloane of famous memory, who resides in
the Bontrouline palace, and not finding him at home
left a note of introduction written by two ladies,
Mrs. Boott and Miss Boott, and also a letter intrusted
to my care by Mirbel. I called also at the Botanic
Garden, but Mr. Targioni-Tozzetti 1 was not at home,
and the garden was of no great consequence. While
at dinner Mr. Sloane called to welcome me to Flor-
ence, and to take me out of the city to the Campagna,
— lawns and beautiful pleasure-grounds and groves
skirting the Arno for a mile or two, which are thrown
open to the public, forming the favorite drive or prome-
nade. Almost the whole city was there, and I never
saw a more pleasant place. The roads were thronged
with carriages, from the barouche of the grand duke
to the peasant's cart, all on terms of perfect equality.
The grand duke passed us twice. He mingles much
with the people, is accessible to all, and is greatly be-
loved. The government, though despotic, is paternal,
the people are not burdened with taxes, and are con-
tented and industrious. The difference between
Tuscany and the Papal States is manifest enough.
But I must hasten with my narrative. Early the next
morning, Friday, I called on Mr. Sloane, looked at his
garden, where he has many fine things. We then
crossed the Arno to the other side of the town, called
on Professor Amici,2 who removed here from Modena
a few years since, and has charge of the grand
duke's observatory. He was very obliging, showed
me his microscopes, which he thinks unrivaled, but I
don't, and then the observatory, where I saw all the

1 Antonio Targioni-Tozzetti, 1785-1856; distinguished Florentine
botanist.

2 Giovanni Battista Amici, 1784-1863 ; an Italian astronomer, espe-
cially skilled in the construction of optical instruments.

^:T. 28.] JOURNAL. 201

instruments, peeped through his telescope, and from
the top of the tower had a most beautiful panoramic
view of Florence and the surrounding country. We
then passed through the museum of natural history,
which is in the same building, and is prettily arranged ;
saw the famous flowers and fruits done in wax, but
not the figures which represent the Plague, which were
in the anatomical museum adjoining, and which I did
not care to see. In the collection were some recent
models made under Amici's superintendence to illus-
trate his discoveries, etc. They were wonderfully fine,
and would be useful in a class-room. Amici is a good
observer with the microscope, but his anatomical or
physiological notions are in some cases very wide of
the mark, and quite surprised me.

On leaving, Mr. Sloane and myself separated, he
going to fulfill some engagement, and I to the Palazzo
Pitti, as it is still called from the founder, though it
early passed into the hands of the Medici family, who
finished it, and now it is the ducal residence. I must
tell you, by the way, that I should have seen a remark-
able person in Florence, had she not been sick. Sloane
is very intimate with her and wished me to see her ;
she is the ex-queen of Naples, the widow of Murat
and the sister of Napoleon. . . .

On returning to the hotel, however, I learned that I
could not get a place with the courier next day, that
the diligence which left at mid-day did not arrive at
Bologna until Sunday afternoon, so I engaged a
cabriolet, to start with me after dinner, arranged my
affairs, called on Mr. Sloane to bid him an unexpected
adieu, dined at the table d'hote at five, and at dark I
was climbing the outskirts of the Apennines.

I would have liked to call upon our sculptor

202 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

Greenough : to see how the statue of Washington is
coming on, but had not time.

At sunrise I was on the mountain-summits, among
the clouds, which a strong wind for a moment blew
aside, and gave me some magnificent views. We
journeyed for some hours in this elevated region, but
at length crossed the Tuscan frontier and were once
more in the country of his Holiness. Just as we
commenced our descent, which is very abrupt, a dense
fog enveloped us and it began to rain ; in consequence
of this I lost the view which you often have of the
Adriatic and the Mediterranean at the same time, as
well as the plains of the Po on the north. This was
the first rain I encountered, excepting a few drops at
Rome, since I left Lyons ; so you may judge of the
dryness of the climate in the south of France and
Italy. It is very different, however, near the moun-
tains. At length, after a long and rapid descent, we
arrived at the foot of the mountain, and stopped at a
comfortable inn to take our dinner and breakfast at
once, it being about two o'clock. Several carriages
were there before us, and just before I left another
arrived, bringing with it a most genuine Yankee, who
amused me excessively. It seems that he came out in
the Great Western, a few weeks ago, had seen what
he thought worth seeing in London and Paris, had
been even to Naples, and was now on his way from
Rome to Switzerland, and expected to reach London
to return by steamship in — I forget how many days !
But the feat upon which he prided himself above all
was that he had ascended Vesuvius and come back
again in — I don't remember precisely how many min-
utes, but in an inconceivably short space of time, and

1 Horatio Greenough ; the American sculptor in Florence.

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 203

very much quicker than had ever been done before !
to the great wonderment of the guides, as he said,
and as I do not doubt. This was his chef d'oauvre,
and I assure you he felt quite proud of it. I laughed
most heartily at the absurdity of the thing, until I
reflected how rapidly I had been doing the sights my-
self, and felt I might justly come in for a share of the
ridicule. In this day's journey I think I outdid the
Yankee, for, arriving at Bologna about five o'clock, I
immediately made arrangements for going on to Fer-
rara the same night, and this accomplished, I had but
two or three hours to spend at Bologna, a city fa-
mous for its university and its sausages ; the former
decayed almost to nothing, the latter still in great de-
mand, diffusing their abominable garlic odor from
every table. I visited all the large churches, took
some coffee, and before nine o'clock was on my way
through the vast plain watered by the Po, which, like
most large rivers, branches near its mouth into sev-
eral streams. The lad who drove me did not know
the road very well, and lost his way several times, so
that instead of arriving before daybreak it was six
o'clock in the morning when we entered Ferrara. In-
deed he came near losing his horse as well as the
road, for while I was sleeping soundly in the carriage
I was roused by a prodigious clatter, and jumping out
as quick as I could, found that he had driven into a
heap of rough stones deposited to mend the road ; the
horse had slipped and was lying flat upon his back in
the bottom of the ditch. With much ado we liber-
ated him from the carriage and lifted him out of the
ditch, repaired the injury to the harness as well as
we could with bits of rope, and were again on our
way. I have wondered since how I could ride thus

204 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

through the night, with only a boy with me, through a
country which some years ago would not have been
deemed safe. But I felt not the slightest alarm, and
slept as soundly as possible.

Ferrara is famous for possessing the tomb and chair
of Ariosto, but except this is as uninteresting as you
can imagine. It was Sunday, and I spent the day
within doors as well as I could.

By making a very early ride I succeeded in reach-
ing Padua at ten o'clock this morning; visited the
university so famed of old, the churches, the splendid
Gaffe Pedrocchi, the Botanic Garden, — the most an-
cient in Italy, of which Alpinius, the elder and the
younger, and Pontedera were the directors. It is un-
der the care of Visiani, 1 to whom I brought a letter
from Bentham, and who politely showed me all I
wished to see. The university is a queer old place
indeed, and the lecture-rooms the most dark, gloomy,
and incommodious places you can conceive ; every-
thing is as old as the fifteenth century. I wish I
could describe the anatomical theatre, which is the
most curious specimen of antiquity I have seen. The
Museum of Natural History is so-so. There is still
a goodly number of students, but nothing to what
there was in the olden time. The Duomo is a
small affair, but the church of St. Antonio is like
a mosque, the most Saracenic building I ever saw, —
with its seven or eight balloon-shaped domes of vari-
ous sizes, and three or four tall and slender minarets.
I am sorry I can't get a decent print of it. The
interior is noble, and very rich in tombs and shrines
and sculptures. Here are tombs of many of the old

1 Roberto de Visiani, 1809-1878; professor of botany at Padua;
author of a Flora Dalmatica.

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 205

professors. The church of St. Augustine is in the same
style, and not much inferior. . . . There is very much
that I wish to write, but I have not the time nor the
strength to write longer, and must sleep. To under-
stand the full luxury of a bed you should sleep with-
out one, as I have done very often of late. Good-
night.

VENICE, on board steamboat for Triest, lying at anchor,
Wednesday evening, May 15, 1839.

For nearly two days I have been " a looker-on in
Venice," a strange place, as unlike any other city of
Europe as can be, unless Constantinople resemble it
in some respects. It is more like some place you
visit in dreams, some creation of fancy, than a real,
earthly city, if it can be called earthly which scarcely
stands upon earth.

We left Padua at five o'clock in the morning, yes-
terday, by the diligence, passing along the banks of a
canal, bordered with numerous villas ; all of them had
been fine, some very magnificent, but they are now
decaying. The clouds prevented me from obtaining
a view of the Rhaetian Alps, which bound the view on
the north, but I hope to make up for this to-morrow,
which will give me some amends for our detention here ;
for you must know that the steamboat was to have left
at nine o'clock this evening, and I expected to have
been in Triest this morning ; but the day has been
stormy, and the water is a little rough, so, forsooth,
the boat is to remain until morning ; but as it is to start
early, I have remained on board, where I have a com-
fortable place to sleep, and a quiet hour to write.

Oh, I wish you could see Venice! — and the dear
girls — whenever I see anything particularly queer, I
think of them at once, and wish for them to enjoy it

206 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

with me. And here everything is strange, canals for
streets, gondolas for coaches ; not a horse to be seen
in the city, except the celebrated bronze gilt steeds of
St. Mark ; palaces of barbaric magnificence, splendid
churches ; people of all nations and tongues, Christians,
Turks, and Jews. Surely there is nothing like it.
The view from Fusina, on the mainland, which was
the first I obtained, was charming. . . .

You will wonder at the comparison, but the dis-
tant view of Venice reminded me strongly of New
York, as you approach from Amboy. The gondola
that brought us stopped in the Grand Canal near the
Kialto, or rather the bridge of the Rialto, for the name
properly belongs to the island ; and in crossing this
bridge during the day, I found some of the little shops
still occupied by money-changers, and I saw more
than one hard Jewish countenance that might sit for
the picture of Shylock. This part of the town is un-
pleasant, although the canals are lined with what were
once stately palaces, which now look as if about to
sink again into the water. While on my way to a ho-
tel, I came abruptly upon a view that seemed like en-
chantment : the Piazza of St. Mark, a large quadrangle,
three sides inclosed by a magnificent range like the
Palais Royal ; on the fourth, the church of St. Mark,
and adjoining it the Palace of the Doges, scarcely
less magnificent, and in an equally Oriental style. In
front is the Campanile, taller than that of Florence,
but not handsome. As you turn out of the quadrangle
in full front of the palace, you see the two granite col-
umns, one of them surmounted with the winged lion ;
and you stand on the mole, with the most superb view
of sea and city, shipping, churches and palaces, before
and around you. I never expect again to see anything

JCT. 28.] JOURNAL. 207

like it. I have walked over this ground again ; and
one is never wearied with the sight. . . . The street
musicians here are very good. A party stops at the
door of the cafe : a man with a violin, his wife and
son each with a guitar, and they perform several airs
exceedingly well, the woman sometimes accompanying
with her voice. She enters the cafe with the little
wooden cup in her hand, and is well satisfied with a
kreutzer (about half a cent) from those who choose to
give, and a sweet " grazia " in the softest Italian ex-
presses her thanks. There is one cafe here frequented
almost exclusively by Turks, who sit smoking their
large pipes with such an air of ridiculous gravity.
Their turbans or the red caps they often wear, their
flowing robes and their nether garments, which are
something between pantaloons and petticoats, are
very queer. . . .

I spare you a detailed account of my movements to-
day and yesterday, of the fine churches, enough to fur-
nish cathedrals to half a dozen cities, of the arsenal, its
ship-yard, the antique lions, the public garden, the Ar-
menian convent, the gondolas and my rides therein.
I have enjoyed it greatly, and have laid up a stock for
future enjoyment, for I shall read hereafter of Venice
with greater interest. One who travels as rapidly as
I do, if he would enjoy the full benefit of his journey,
should know almost everything before he leaves home.
The true way for those who have time and means suf-
ficient is to study the history of each place on the
spot with all its monuments and relics around them.
So more might be learned in one month than in a year
at home. If I had what I am not likely to have, —
a family of children to bring up, money sufficient for
the purpose, and no other duties to prevent, I think I

208 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

would educate them in this peripatetic way. But now
to bed.

Thursday evening, May 16. ... We are to start
at nine o'clock. The rain is over, but it is still cloudy.
I have been for some days in Austrian dominions, but
I wish to be in Austria itself. It cleared up a little
just at sunset, and gave, me from the deck of the ves-
sel, a most beautiful view of the town and harbor, with
hundreds of gondolas gliding swiftly through the
water in every direction. . . .

TRIEST, Saturday evening-, May 18, 1839.

As misfortunes never come single, I found this morn-
ing that our places were not secured in the mail-coach
for Monday. ThQ fellow who was to arrange the
business found, after getting our passports in order,
that there was only one place left, and supposing that
we were certainly to go together, did not secure that.
It was immediately arranged between us that I was to
have the place, but on arriving at the office I had the
mortification to find it already taken. For an hour or
so we made various plans, negotiated with a vetturino,
but were stopped by the information we received, that
they would be five days on the road to Gratz, from
where to Vienna it would require at least two days,
more by the same kind of conveyance, or twenty-seven
hours in the mail-coach if we could get a place in it.
We found that the quickest way left for us was to
take places for Tuesday by the mail, and go on Mon-
day by a private conveyance to Adelsberg, as we had
intended, where we shall have a day longer than we
desire ; and these places we were fortunate enough to
secure. So I cannot expect to reach Vienna before
Friday morning of next week ! I had hoped to reach
that place by the twentieth.

*:T. 28.] JOURNAL. 209

It rained hard all the morning, so that botanizing
was out of the question. So I put my collection of
yesterday in press ; visited Biasoletto, l and after
dinner met Tommasini,2 who has given me a very
pretty collection of plants of the country. . . .

VIENNA, 24th May, Friday evening.

The great fete of the Grotto of Adelsberg, of which
I wrote you, was to take place on Monday afternoon.
Mr. Philip, the painter, and myself took a carriage to
that place and arrived in good time, and saw this very
strange grotto with greater advantage and under more
curious circumstances, I suspect, than was ever done
by an American before. I had all the next day before
me, as the coach from Triest did not arrive tilt evening.
My companion was taken somewhat ill and kept the
house, while I took my portfolio and walked through
the fields of this retired valley to a bold and high
mountain range, more distant than I had calculated
on ; climbed the rocks with much difficulty ; enjoyed a
charming prospect from the summit ; filled my port-
folio with plants ; got back about five o'clock, regu-
larly tired and hungry, and just had time to eat my
dinner and secure my specimens before the coach
came from Triest. We took our places just at dusk,
Tuesday evening, and have been on the road day and
night, stopping just long enough to take our meals,
until this morning ; when at early daylight, just as I
opened my eyes from such sleep as one might catch
after three consecutive nights of such confinement, the
vale of the Wien and the beautiful city of Vienna

1 B. Biasoletto, M. D., 1793-1858. Triest. "A botanist of merit
and investigator of Algae of the Adriatic " [A. G.].

2 M. J. Tommasini, 1794-1879. Triest. Author of a Botany of
Mt. Slavonik, Istria.

210 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

lay before me, the green fields reaching up to the
very gates. It was a lovely sight. I have never seen
the like. It began raining very soon, however, and has
rained all day, so that I have seen little. Philip, who
understands German, has been confined to his room
by illness. But as soon as I got my breakfast and
was fairly fixed in my lodgings, which we found as
difficult to get as if we were at New York at this sea-
son (I am at the Gasthof zur Dreyfaltigkeit, a good
and cheap house, and the head waiter speaks French),
I took a guide to direct me to the Joseph-Platz, where
the Imperial Library and Cabinet are, to find End-
licher.1 I found the man in his den, and the moment
I put my letters into his hand he recognized Ben-
tham's writing and addressed me by name, Bentham
having apprised him of my intended visit. Endlicher
received me very cordially, and I remained with him
till two o'clock. He is extremely good-looking, and
younger even in appearance than I expected, although
Bentham told me he was about his own age ; he looks
about thirty-three. I had the pleasure to present in
person the copy of the " Flora " designed for him.

The usual dinner hour here is from twelve to three.
The common people dine at twelve, the gentry from
two to four, the imperial family setting a good ex-
ample by dining between one and two. After dinner
I went to the police office to procure the necessary
leave to remain here for a week or so, answered all
the questions which are put in such cases to the trav-
eler, such as where I stopped, how long I intended
to stay, what my business was, produced my letter of
credit, in order to show that I was not likely to run

1 Stephen Ladislaus Endlicher, 1804-1849 ; professor of botany in
the University of Vienna ; author of Genera Plantarum.

JET. 28.] JOURNAL. 211

away with unpaid bills, — to ascertain this point is said
to be the chief object of all this inquiry. When you
arrive at any hotel and remain over night, you are
presented with a blank formula comprising still more
particular inquiries, which you are required to fill up,
and it is sent to the police office. You give first your
name, then your country, age, religion, occupation,
state whether you are married or not ! whether you
are traveling alone or in company ; where you came
from last ; your probable stay ; whether you have let-
ters of credit or not, with some equally particular
inquiries! I went next to my banker's, found no
letters ! I drew some money, and obtained a ticket
of admission to a commercial reading-room, which is
well supplied with English and French newspapers.
Here I stayed until sunset, reading up my English
news, in which I had got far behind, and which oil
the present occasion I found very interesting. I
gleaned occasionally a little news from home, but
vaguely. The information seemed in general satisfac-
tory, but one letter from home were worth it all !

I have this morning changed the plants I have been
drying, and have taken care of my companion Philip,
who is quite sick with the fatigue of his journey and
so forth. I have endured it very well, but must get
into bed. Not having had my clothes off for three
nights in succession, nor enjoyed rational sleep, I
wonder much that I am not more fatigued. Endlicher
asked me to go to the opera this evening, where there
is some especially fine music, as he says, but I de-
clined, telling him that under present circumstances
I should sleep through the finest music in the world.
I suppose it would be perfectly impossible to make
him understand how one could have any scruples
against this amusement.

212 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

Saturday, 25th, 1839. — I went early this morning to
the Imperial Cabinet ; remained there until two, when
the rooms are closed. After dinner I explored about
the city until sunset ; saw many of the public build-
ings, the gardens, etc. I understand the localities of
the town proper very well. The city itself is not large ;
the strong walls that inclose it are still kept up, and
immediately outside of this there is a large open space,
planted with trees and laid out into roads and walks.
Beyond this are the faubourgs or suburbs, larger
many times than the city itself; very pleasant, but
rather inconvenient to reach. Most of the public
buildings, the shops, etc., are in the city itself. I
went to see the fine old Gothic Cathedral of St. Ste-
phen's. It is a very old and exceedingly fine, large
building, but the roof is very awkward. The spire
is the finest thing I ever saw in the way of Gothic
architecture. It is four hundred and sixty-five feet
high, and is the very poetry of steeples. I intend to
climb to the top presently. . . .

Monday morning, 27th May. — I find we are in a
different climate from Italy. It has been cold ever
since my arrival here ; the first day was rainy, and
yesterday it rained from morning to night, and was
very cold and unpleasant; so of course I kept my
room nearly all day. I had also to take care of Mr.
Philip, whose indisposition has turned into intermit-
tent fever, such as he has been subject to at Rome.
It is a most distressing thing to be sick in a strange
land, and I cannot be too grateful for the uninter-
rupted good health I have enjoyed ever since I left
you.

I have deferred telling you anything about the
Grotto of Adelsberg, on account of the great difficulty

JST. 28.] JOURNAL. 213

I find in conveying any idea of it. It is without
doubt the most wonderful thing of its kind in the
world.

Adelsberg itself is a little German village perched
under a steep conical hill which is crowned with the
ruins of an old castle ; it is at one border of a circular
plain, several miles in extent, dotted here and there
with little hamlets, and surrounded with mountains, so
that it is like a large basin, and seems wholly shut
out from the rest of the world. It is so still and
quiet that it would do very well for the valley of
Rasselas, but the mountains do not form precipices
except on one side, where they are accessible at a few
points only, and there with much difficulty, as I had
occasion to know. The streams that come down from
the mountains unite to form a little river, perhaps
nearly twice the size of the Fishkill Creek ; and this,
after running about the valley seeking an outlet in
vain, at length in despair, as it seems, dives into the
solid rock at the foot of hills near the village. The
entrance for visitors is a small hole above this, which
opens into a long gallery, perhaps two hundred yards
in extent. From this you descend into a vast hall,
called the Dome, more than one hundred feet high,
and three or four hundred feet in length. As you de-
scend you hear the roar of the waters confined in their
deep prison-house, and at the bottom you meet the
river which rushes swiftly to the distant extremity of
this hall, and there sinks into the dark depths. In-
stead of a stupid monument and inscription by the
late emperor, placed above this, it would have been
much better taste to have placed in the stream a piece
of statuary representing Charon and his boat, for
never was seen so perfect a beau-ideal of the fabled

214 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

river Styx. This is the last you see of the river
Poik ; but the Unz, which bursts forth a large stream
from the rocks at Planina, is believed to be the same.
This river is crossed by a bridge. Then we went on
to another hall about three quarters of a mile from
the entrance ; the ball-room, where a large gathering
of peasants of the surrounding country, in their na-
tional costume, were dancing waltzes in the bowels of
the earth !

Hiatus vastus. — I left this account of the Adels-
berg Grotto, and my journey through Illyria and Sty-
ria, for the first convenient opportunity, — a time that
never comes, — so now I must send it as it is. The
grotto is wonderful past all description, and our visit
was very opportune ; the whole scene not soon to be
forgotten.

29th May. — It rained all day yesterday, so Schon-
brunn was out of the question, and I spent the morn-
ing again at the Cabinet of Botany ; and after dinner
Philip and myself, in spite of the rain, set out to visit
the imperial picture-gallery in the Upper Belvedere
Palace, which is finely situated in one of the suburbs.
The gallery is very extensive and excellent, especially
in the Dutch school, and we had barely time to finish
our hasty reconnoissance before it closed for the night.
I had a fine view of the city from the windows of the
upper story. We stopped at a cafe on our way home,
took some lemonade and ice-cream, while I read " Ga-
lignani's Messenger " for English news. This morn-
ing I went to the gallery as usual, and after working
for a little time, Mr. Putterlich,1 the sub-assistant,

1 Aloys Putterlich, 1810-1845 ; keeper of the Botanical Museum,
Vienna.

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 215

went with me to the famous Mineralogical Cabinet,
the finest in the world. A most splendid affair it is.
It occupies a suite of quite ordinary rooms, but is
excellently arranged and shows to great advantage.
Here are all the fine gems, diamonds, emeralds, topaz,
and all sorts of precious stones, both polished and
natural. I saw also the bouquet of precious stones
made for Maria Theresa, a most brilliant affair. The
collection of aerolites is unique. I intend to visit it
again on Saturday. I obtained some useful informa-
tion here as to the mode of constructing the shelves,
etc., in a mineralogical cabinet ; their plan here is the
best I have seen. If I knew what I now do, I could
have given a plan for the construction of the cabi-
nets at the Lyceum infinitely better than the present.
Returning to the Botanical Gallery I occupied myself
in selecting specimens for myself from Rugel's New
Holland collections. Endlicher offers me these and
other plants, as many as I like. He also offered to
send to Hamburg for me a copy of the "Icono-
graphia Generum Plantarum," the " Annals of the Vi-
enna Museum," and some other of his works. After
dinner, finding nothing else to do for a few moments, I
went into a bookseller's, — the publisher of Endlicher's
" Genera Plantarum," - — to look up some reports on
education, etc. I asked also for botanical works ; and
after offering me several things which I did not want,
they brought out, as a great rarity, our own " Flora," >
which I told them I did not want at all. At six
o'clock, Endlicher called upon me to take me to the
Botanic Garden of the university, under the care of
Baron Jacquin, who is professor, at the same time, of
both botany and chemistry in the university, and
scarcely lectures on either. He introduced me to the

216 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

old fellow, a hard-featured chap, who managed to
speak a little English and talked to me of the year
he spent at Sir Joseph Banks' in bygone times. We
went through the garden, which is finely situated,
covers much ground, and has fine trees, but is wretch-
edly cared for ; hi fact it is almost left to run wild,
although well endowed. ... I have some curious an-
ecdotes to give you about the censorship of the press
at Vienna, but have not energy enough left to write
this evening.

Thursday evening. — Nothing can be printed and
published here, without first being examined and ap-
proved by a censor of the press. The government
appoints four or five persons in Vienna, who examine
in different departments, one for newspapers, one for
works of science ! others for different branches of lit-
erature. Every author must send his manuscript to
the police-office, whence it is handed over to the proper
censor, who certifies that it contains nothing immoral,
nothing against the government, and that it is good
literature, or science, or poetry, as the case may be,
and worthy of being published ; it is then returned to
the author, with permission to print it. The author's
annoyance does not end here. He is obliged to leave
a copy of his manuscript with the police, and a copy
of the work as soon as printed, so that they may be
compared, and any alterations or additions detected.
If he desires to make any alterations in his manuscript
after it has passed the censorship, he must send it
back for a second examination. Persons holding
responsible official situations are not exempt: if a
censor himself wishes to publish anything, his manu-
script must be given to the police that it may be ex-
amined by some other censor. All kinds of works,

JET. 28.] JOURNAL. 217

books of dry science not excepted, are subject to the
censorship. To my great surprise, Endlicher, who
gave me all this information, informed me that all the
manuscript of his " Genera Plantarum " is sent to the
police, who transmit it to Baron Jacquin, the censor
for natural history, etc., and who is well paid for the
business, but who knows just as much about it as if it
were written in Arabic, and who certifies to each por-
tion that it contains nothing hurtful to the people,
nothing offensive to the emperor, to religion, etc., and
more than all, that it is good science ! To avoid the
annoyance of sending it back repeatedly, as he has
alterations to make, he is obliged to promise the
printer to indemnify him, in case any discrepancy is
observed between the manuscript and the printed
work. Endlicher spoke of all this in terms which
there is no necessity for me to record just at present.
He gave me an anecdote respecting the publication of
his earliest botanical work of any consequence, a
Flora of his native town, the " Flora Posoniensis : "
the manuscript being duly sent to Jacquin, that worthy
refused to give it his imprimatur, because it was ar-
ranged according to the natural system ! which Jac-
quin did not like ; and Endlicher was obliged to
apply personally to the ministers and take great
pains, when he obtained permission to print in spite
of the censor ; he took his revenge by dedicating the
work to Baron Jacquin himself ! This system suffi-
ciently explains the low state of literature in Austria,
as compared with northern Germany. I could hardly
believe all I have heard, had I not obtained my in-
formation from such authentic sources. . . .

Friday evening, 31st May, 1839. — The remainder
of the morning was devoted to the botanical cabinet ;

218 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

and in the afternoon and early part of the evening I
called with Endlicher upon Mr. Fenzl,1 the aide-
naturaliste in the botanical department, who is con-
fined to his bed by some affection of one of his
legs. He is engaged in a monograph of Alsinea?,
which I think will be very faithfully done, and we
looked over several collections by his bedside. I made
a bundle of all I wished to examine, which are sent
to my lodgings for the purpose, and which will give
me occupation for the evening. He introduced me
to his frau, a regular German lassie, and we managed
to converse altogether for some time in a curious mix-
ture of French, German, and English.

ON THE DANUBE, on board the Dampschiff
(steamboat) Maria-Anna, bound for Linz, 5th June.

Schonbrunn, the Versailles of Austria, is much
like Versailles itself on a smaller scale, but much less
magnificent. I visited the grounds with Endlicher,
and also visited the botanic garden attached, under
the care of M. Schott.2 The garden is very finely ar-
ranged, but all that is particularly worth seeing is the
conservatories and the large collection of exotics, many
of them very old like those of Kew. It is richer than
Kew in Palms, Aroideae, etc., but in other things it
seems not quite equal. As we passed by the palace,
the emperor was pointed out to me, through the open
windows of his cabinet. I am told privately that he
is scarcely compos mentis, and that all government
affairs are managed by a regency of which Metternich
and Archduke Charles are chief. We went next to

1 Edward Fenzl, 1807-1879 ; professor of botany and director of
the Botanic Garden at Vienna.

2 Dr. Heinrich Schott, 1794-1865 ; director of the Imperial Gardens,
Schonbrunn. " He was the highest authority on Aroidese " [A. G.].

MT. 28.] JOURNAL. 219

see Baron Hiigel, and the extensive collection of living
plants he has collected during his travels. I think I
have not told you the cause of his long journeying.
He was, it appears, the accepted lover of an accom-
plished and beautiful lady of very good family here,
and their union was considered as a settled affair.
But unfortunately for poor Hiigel, Prince Metter-
nich looked upon the lady and determined to have her.
So he sent Hiigel upon some humbugging political
mission, to Paris I believe, and during his absence he
made his propositions to the father and mother, who
were not slow in discovering that Metternich, with all
his riches and power, malgre his sixty-odd years, was
the fittest bridegroom ; and I am sorry to add that they
persuaded the daughter to the same opinion, though
she could have had little liking to the old fellow per-
sonally, and was said to be much attached to Hiigel.
The latter at length found out why he was sent to
Paris, and came back with all speed, but he was too
late. His intended became Princess Metternich, and
Hiigel set out to cure his disappointment or forget his
love by traveling in foreign lands. Metternich, being
glad to get rid of him, threw facilities in his way, and
being fond of plants he collected and sent home an
immense quantity for his garden. At the same time
he made extensive collections of dried specimens, etc.,
which all reached Vienna safely. He spent nearly
all his fortune in traveling, and would have been in a
quandary, but the government, that is to say, Metter-
nich, bought all his collections of dried plants, ani-
mals, etc., for the Imperial Cabinet, giving for them
an immense price, some thirty times more than they
are worth, and so Hiigel is able to enlarge and embel-
lish his place, improve his garden, and build most

220 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

beautiful greenhouses. He has fitted up his house
very tastefully, and filled it with all manner of strange
things, arms, idols, and so forth. His collection of
living plants is larger than that of Schonbrunn,
though the trees are younger.

Several days after my arrival I called to pay my re-
spects to our minister here, Mr. Muhlenberg, and the
secretary of legation, Mr. Clay. Philip and myself
also spent an evening at Mr. Clay's, where we met
Mr. and Mrs. Muhlenberg, and their daughter, a
young lady of about seventeen; also Mrs. Clay, a
pretty woman, and Mr. Schwartz (the American con-
sul here) and his wife, who both speak English indif-
ferently well. Muhlenberg seems quite sick of living
here, and speaks of the Austrians with anything but
praise.

We went one evening to a public garden, of which
there are many here, to hear the most celebrated mu-
sician here, Mr. Strauss. A few kreutzers are charged
for admission, and the company are nearly all seated,
at little tables, eating a substantial supper, or sipping
coffee or ices, as they incline, while Strauss with his
fine band played the finest music, mostly pieces of
his own composition. It was the best music I ever
heard.

Philip left me on Monday evening and went to
Prague. On Tuesday I arranged passport, left par-
cels to be sent to Hamburg, took leave ; came out to
Nussdorf after dinner, from which the steamboat
leaves, and after seeing my luggage deposited safely
on board, I climbed the Leopoldsberg, a steep moun-
tain between eight hundred and nine hundred feet
high, and enjoyed the beautiful and extensive view
from its summit, — a fine view of Vienna, of the

*:T. 28.] JOURNAL. 221

Danube branching into many different streams, form-
ing pretty green islands, and the whole of the broad
valley far into Hungary. In a fine day, it is said
the towers of Pressburg, forty miles off, may be dis-
tinguished. The Danube, which is here as large as
the Niagara, broad and swift, washes the base of the
mountains, and the view up the river, though not so
extensive, is more picturesque. I collected a handful
of plants, bid good-by to Vienna, and descended, slept
on shore, and was on board the boat in time to start
with it at five o'clock this morning.

This is the first time I have slept in a genuine Ger-
man bed, — a feather-bed beneath, and an eider-down
bed the only cover. It is inclosed in a sheet like a
pillow-case, and under this you creep. In the winter
it might do very well, but at this time of the year it is
very oppressive. The upper sheet here I find, in all
cases, is tied fast to the coverlet, which is all of one
piece, and just long enough to cover a moderately
sized man like myself from the chin to the toes. A
taller person must choose between his shoulders and
his toes, for they cannot both be covered.

Living is dear in Vienna. I stopped at a cheap
hotel, being aware of this, and lived as economically
as I well could, but I find I have made way with a very
considerable sum. The only way to travel cheaply
anywhere on the Continent is not to be in a hurry,
and to understand the language.

Notabilia for Dr. T. — I have seen Corda1 at
Vienna. He is one of the curators of the collection at
Prague, and was at Vienna on a visit. Learning that
I was there, he called and left his card. I afterwards

1 A. C. J. Corda, 1809-1849. Prague. A distinguished mycologist.
Lost at sea on returning from America.

222 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

saw him at his hotel. He is a little fellow about thirty,
with a small expressive countenance. He works chiefly
at minute fungi, on which he is publishing a large
work. I saw a part of it in London. He showed me
an immense quantity of drawings, which he makes
with great rapidity. He is also publishing a work
supplementary to Sternberg's " Flora of the Former
World," a work of which Corda did a good part. He
gave me two copies of a lithograph of Count Stern-
berg, — now dead, as you know, — done by himself.
I observe by his drawings that he has anticipated an
unpublished discovery of Valentine's, which he showed
to Lindley and myself in London, about the holes in
the tissue of Sphagnum opening exteriorly. I looked
at Corda's microscope (one of Shiek [?] at Berlin),
but it is inferior to the English or Chevalier's.

I made a second visit to Fenzl, as he lay in bed ;
had a long botanical talk with him, and think him a
most promising botanist.

Ungnadia (the character of which Endlicher has
not yet published, — the last plate in the " Atakta ")
was named in memory of Baron Ungnade, once an am-
bassador from Austria to Constantinople or Persia, I
forget which, and the first to introduce ^sculus Hip-
pocastanum into Europe, — hence the propriety of the
name. Endlicher is soon to publish the description
in the "Annals of the Vienna Museum," which work,
with the " Iconographia Generum Plantarum," he has
promised to send to Hamburg for me, along with the
parcels of plants given me. We have studied the new
Loganiaceous plant from Florida. It proves, as Brown
guessed, near his Logania § (or Gen.) Stomandra, but
extremely distinct from that or any other genus, by
the character of the style which Decaisne first noticed.

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 223

Endlicher is to give a figure in " Iconographia Gen-
erum Plantarum," and the description has gone to
the printer in one of Endlicher 's articles in the " An-
nals of the Vienna Museum," — Coelostylis Logani-
oides, Torr. & Gr. Can't we get more of it ? Has
Leavenworth found it ?

I have been looking over the " Reliquiae Hsenkeanse,"
and examining what specimens of the collection from
North America they have in the Vienna Herbarium.
Endlicher goes this week to Carlsbad to recruit his
health, stopping a day at Prague. He has kindly
taken a list of my desiderata of the species published
in that work, and I hope to get some bits of them. I
have copied so much from the work that we can get
along even if I do not see it again, but as I was about
to purchase it, Endlicher suggested that he should see
if Presl himself has not a copy left for us. Follow-
ing this hint I have sent by Endlicher a copy of the
" Flora " to Presl,1 in nomine auctorum.

There is a new genus of Presl in Loaseae ( Acrolasia)
from Mexico, which may be Nuttall's. The most curi-
ous thing is a new genus of Datisceae from Monterey
(why have none of the other collectors found it?),
called Tricerastes ; very interesting.

I find from all inquiries that it is very difficult to
find Nees von Esenbeck 2 at Breslau, especially in the
summer. He is a queer stick altogether, is not well
satisfied with his situation at Breslau, and spends the
greater part of his time at a little place high up in the
Riesengebirge, studying Hepaticae.

1 Karel B. Presl, 1794-1852 ; professor at Prague and curator of
the herbarium.

2 Christian Gottfried Nees von Esenbeck, 1776-1858; professor
of natural history at Bonn and Breslau.

224 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

I have bought Grisebach's new " Genera et Species
Gentianearum," and have been studying it 011 my way
in the steamboat. It seems very well done, particu-
larly his preliminary matter on structure, affinities, de-
velopment, geographical distribution, etc., which is very
interesting. It is very carelessly printed. Our well-
known " Tuckerton," in the pine-barrens, figures under
the form of " Juckerten " ! Let this suffice at present.

SALZBURG, June 10.

Arrived at Linz Friday noon, dined, looked a little
about the town, which is remarkable for nothing ex-
cept its agreeable situation on the Danube, and its
unusual kind of fortification ; and at half past one
started for Gmiinden, about thirty-five miles by rail-
road, in a car drawn by horses. This railroad, the
oldest in Germany, is rather a primitive affair ; we
were jolted more than on the ordinary roads, which
I have found everywhere excellent. The first part
of the road was very uninteresting. I was seated
in the middle of the car, with five or six inveterate
German smokers around me, each equipped with a
huge meerschaum pipe with a wooden stem nearly
as long as your arm, which he replenished as often as
it was exhausted, and all puffed away in concert as if
they were locomotive engines and our progress de-
pended upon their exertions. You are everywhere
annoyed in the same way, but I have become accus-
tomed to it so that it does not trouble me as at first.
At length a fat military officer next me smoked him-
self to sleep ; and I was amusing myself with the ridic-
ulous pendulum-like motions he was making, his pipe
still grasped by his mouth at one end and by his hand
at the other, when he knocked his head against the

JET. 28.] JOURNAL. 225

window and pitched his hat into the road, to his great
astonishment and our infinite amusement. We passed
through Wels, and afterwards Lambach, a pretty place
and most beautifully situated upon the Traun. In this
part of the journey we had a fine view of the Salzburg
Alps, which rise to their greatest height just where
Austria proper and the provinces of Styria and Salz-
burg meet. From Lambach to the end of the journey,
the country appeared completely American: finely
wooded with fir and larch with here and there a clump
of beech. We reached Gmiinden just at twilight, a
neat village on the very bank of the Gmiinden see or
Traunsee, for it is called by both names. The situa-
tion, close down upon the water and in the bosom of
green undulating hills, is as lovely as can be conceived,
and is in fine contrast with the upper extremity of the
little lake, where the dark and lofty mountains rise ab-
ruptly from the very edge of the water, not leaving room
enough even for a footpath. Their summits were still
covered with patches of snow, but they are overtopped
by the peaks of the Dachstein and other portions of
these Alps which are crowned with perpetual snow.
I found at the Goldenes Schiff neat rooms, and a most
comfortable bed, which I was prepared fully to enjoy,
having first made a supper 'on nice trout from the lake,
with a few etceteras. At seven o'clock the next morn-
ing I was on board the little steamboat, — commanded
by an Englishman, as most boats are in Austria, —
which affords the only means of communication with
the country beyond. The morning was pleasant, and
I had a good opportunity of seeing the finest scenery I
9 ever beheld ; indeed I do not expect ever to see it
surpassed. As we left the green slopes at Gmiinden
behind us, the mountains which inclose the upper por-

226 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

tion of the lake gradually disclosed themselves more
distinctly; halfway up, we were opposite the gigan-
tic Traunstein, whose naked and weather-beaten sum-
mit had been full in view almost ever since we left
Linz the day before. It is a huge mountain, appear-
ing as if split from top to bottom and turned with the
cloven side toward the lake, so that it presents a per-
pendicular wall of jagged rock nearly three thousand
feet high ! leaving just room sufficient between it and
the water for one or two fishermen's huts, which look
the veriest pygmies. The mountains beyond this on
the same side are equally picturesque, but not so high.
They rise in sharp isolated peaks, leaving the wildest
glens between, down which streams fed by the snows
of the mountains in the background come leaping to
the lake. On a promontory which seems from the lower
part of the lake to form its southern extremity stands
the little hamlet of Traunkirchen ; the picturesque lit-
tle church was founded by the Jesuits, who once had a
small establishment here ; a little nook is occupied with
the wee bits of cabins belonging to the peasantry em-
ployed in the salt-works or in rowing the salt-barges
down the lake ; they ar.e set down here and there, as
room can be found, and add much to the beauty of the
view. As the boat doubles this promontory, Gmiiii-
den and all the lower part of the lake is lost sight of,
and you seem to be on another smaller but wilder lake,
entirely shut in by the precipitous mountains ; a few
minutes more and we are landed at Ebensee, the little
salt-village at the head, where the Traun enters, and
you regret that the voyage is so short. I was strongly
inclined to go back again with the boat, and return
again in the afternoon ; but knowing I had no time to
lose, and that I might not readily find another con-

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 227

venient opportunity of going on to Ischl, I was obliged
to bid farewell to Gmiindensee. Loveliest, wildest of
lakes, I shall not soon forget thee.

I had not time at Ebensee to look at the works
where the brine is evaporated, which seem to be on a
large scale. The brine is brought here in aqueducts,
some fifteen or twenty-four miles, since fuel is more
plenty here, and it is found more economical to bring
the brine to the fuel than the fuel to the brine. The
stellwagen was ready, and I took my seat. A ride of
ten or eleven miles up the valley of the Traun, a nar-
row defile bordered by lofty mountains, brought us
before noon to Ischl. It is a pretty village, lying in a
green valley formed by the junction of the little river
Ischl with the Traun ; it contains extensive salt-works
and is a favorite bathing-place, people of all degrees
coming here in the summer to pickle themselves in the
salt water. Three immense ridges of mountains come
down almost into the village, leaving a triangular
space for the village, with just three ways of getting in
or out, viz., by ascending the river as we came, or by
either the Ischl or the Traun as they enter the valley.

I took a hasty dinner, and left the hotel at one
o'clock, determined to enjoy the satisfaction of climb-
ing a real mountain. The Zeimitz, the highest in the
neighborhood, is said to command the finest prospect,
and it looked as if I could ascend it in an hour or two
with the greatest ease, although the guide-book says
that ten to twelve hours are necessary for going and
returning. I have accomplished the task ; I climbed
the mountain, 5000 feet high, traveled over the snow
from one to the other of its four peaks at considerable
distance from each other ; enjoyed the most magnifi-
cent prospect ; filled my portfolio with alpine plants,

228 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

descended the steepest side, picking my difficult way
down the rocks and sliding down immense snow-
banks, until I was past the alpine portion; then
making a turn to a subalpine pasture, where cows and
goats are driven to pass the summer, I struck an old
path, and ran with all speed to the gorge at the base,
where the stream that I had traced from its source as
it trickled from a snowbank, and down a succession
of little cataracts, was now a foaming and rushing
torrent. It was then just twilight, and a quiet walk
of an hour brought me back to the hotel at nine
o'clock, quite proud of my feat and delighted with the
fine view I had obtained. But I have paid well for it.
In the morning I could scarcely stir for the aches and
pains in my bones, and even now the extensor muscles
of my legs are sore to the touch and bear woeful tes-
timony to the hard service they have been obliged
to perform. " I shall think about it," as Mr. Davis
says, before I ascend another mountain.

And yet I feel myself well repaid for all my
fatigue. To say nothing of the prospect opening out
wider and grander as I ascended, I had from the sum-
mit a magnificent mountain panorama which it was
well worth the labor to see ; the summits of more than
one peak white and brilliant with perpetual snow and
ice. The most stupendous of all is the Thorstein or
Dachstein, which closes the view to the south, with its
immense glaciers of the most dazzling whiteness, from
which numerous steep pinnacles rise like spires, tow-
ering high above all surrounding objects, illuminated
by the rays of the setting sun long after all other ob-
jects are left in the shade. The dark lake of Hall-
stadt was distinctly seen, appearing to reach up to its
very base. I could not distinguish the village which

JET. 28.] JOURNAL. 229

is hidden under the cliffs at that end of the lake,
where from November to February the inhabitants do
not see the sun, they are so shut in by high moun-
tains. Four other lakes were in full view, two of
them lying almost beneath my feet.

And then imagine my pleasure at collecting alpine
plants for the first time, some of them in full blossom
under the very edge of a snowbank. I filled my
portfolio with Soldanella, Rhododendron, Primula
Auricula, Ranunculus Thora, and another with white
flowers, etc., etc. I am sorry to say that hi my eager-
ness I have left my knife, last relic of the Expedi-
tion, and so long my trusty companion, somewhere
on the top of the mountain. Sunday was at least a
day of bodily rest, for I did not rise until past ten
o'clock, and hobbled out but once beyond the limits of
my hotel. I was obliged to leave, however, late in the
evening, about half past ten, when the eilwagen, which
comes but twice a week, arrived from Gratz on its way
to Salzburg ; and here I found myself at six o'clock
this morning ; a rainy day, and a very dull town, with
nothing but its fortress and its exceedingly beautiful
and romantic situation to make it interesting. There
are many objects of great interest in the neighbor-
hood, but this rainy day prevents any distant excur-
sion ; my place is taken for Munich for to-morrow
morning, and not even the inducements of " the most
beautiful region in all Germany," as it is called, not
even the sublimities of the Berchtesgaden and the
Konigsee, which are but fifteen miles off, shall de-
tain me longer. I begin to look with expectation
toward the end of my journey, and have already in my
plans shortened it a little. I have looked about the
old churches and buildings of this town, and am wait-

230 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

ing now for it to clear up that I may climb the Mbnchs-
berg, and enjoy the prospect that is said to be so
fine. At midday I had hopes of a pleasant afternoon,
but it is now raining harder than ever.

In this region, as in the retired parts of Styria,
through which I passed to Vienna, you are charmed
with the kind-hearted simplicity of the people. If
you meet them in walking, they always give you some
word of greeting, and commonly take off their hats
and bow to you ; yet there seems to be nothing servile
or cringing in it. You get a porter to carry your
baggage, who, instead of asking for more when you
have given him already more than he expected to re-
ceive, takes off his hat, makes you a low bow, and
thanks you most heartily, though without any palaver.
So with the servants, who never ask anything, and I
suppose would not if you were to forget them alto-
gether ; I doubt if they would ever remind you ; you
give them about a third part of what an English ser-
vant would expect, and you have them all most heartily
wishing you bon voyage or gliickliche reise, accord-
ing to the language they speak. In some places they
say the chambermaid kisses your hand, but this has
not happened to me yet. The women, when not ren-
dered wholly masculine in appearance by performing
the labor of men, which is very common, are almost
universally good-looking, and in such vigorous health.
I do not admire their head-dress, which is ordinarily
a black silk thing tied closely around the head and
tied in rather fantastic bows behind. The women of
Linz and all this part of the Danube wear, when in
full dress, a cap of tinsel or gold lace, shaped exactly
like the Roman helmet, which fits close to the top
of the head. But fashions never leave this world;

JET. 28.] JOURNAL. 231

when you ladies throw aside some mode, it is picked
up and perpetuated in some out-of-the-way part of the
world. Thus, for example, all the young fraus of
Ischl wear balloon sleeves, after the most approved
fashion some three or four years ago. I assure you it
looked quite natural to see them again, even upon the
buxom damsels of the Salzkammergut (there 's a name
for you).

It is now half past seven ; and it is still raining
most obstinately, so ascending the Monchsberg is not
to be thought of ; and I must make up my mind to
leave Salzburg without this view. My trunk is sent
to the office of the brief-post-eilwagen, all ready for
starting at six o'clock in the morning, and to-morrow
evening at eleven I hope (D. V.) to be in Munich^
seventy-eight miles. I owe Bentham a letter, and
have not written him or any one else since I left
Paris. I will take this convenient opportunity and
write forthwith.

MUNICH, 12th June.

I arrived in this capital of Bavaria last evening at
eleven o'clock, after a tedious, though not uninterest-
ing ride of seventeen hours. The day proved a fine
one, and after leaving Salzburg through the curious
tunnel that penetrates the Monchsberg we came
abruptly into the open country ; and as the mists grad-
ually rose from the sides of the mountains and we
ascended some small hills, I obtained some most beau-
tiful and picturesque views of the surrounding moun-
tains. The Stauffenberg, which stood between us and
Berchtesgaden, a magnificent mountain, was for a long
time the most prominent object ; backed by the more
distant central portions of the Salzburg Alps, all
white with snow. It was only as I left this place

232 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

that I could appreciate the beauty of its situation, and
I felt a momentary regret that I had not stayed a day
longer and visited Berchtesgaden. These fine moun-
tains and those of the Tyrol (the more western portion
of the same chain) were in full view during the whole
journey, filling the southern horizon, while we jour-
neyed through a rather level country ; for the whole
of Bavaria south of the Danube is a great plain,
stretching from that river to these mountains that
skirt its southern border. It is an inclined plain,
since Munich, though in a perfectly flat region, is
about sixteen hundred feet above the level of the sea.
We crossed the frontier in an hour after we started,
where our baggage was slightly and very civilly ex-
amined, and our passports vised by the Bavarian
police. We passed two pretty lakes, but no place of
interest except Wasserburg, situated in a picturesque
dell on the river Inn. For companions I had a Dane,
who spoke a little English surprisingly well, and was
very agreeable ; a German, who spoke a little French ;
and a Frenchman, who had come up the Danube from
Constantinople, and who tired us all with the continual
clack of his very disagreeable voice. I took up my
abode at the Schwarzer Adler, a very comfortable
and quite cheap hotel ; slept pretty well ; rose early
this morning to take a look at the town, which
within these last twenty years has become a mag-
nificent capital ; saw many of the public buildings, —
that is, their exterior, — churches, and squares ; went
to the office of the police and obtained the required
permission de sejour ; and then went to the Royal
Cabinet to find Martius, for whom I had three letters
of introduction. He is a small man, not so tall as I,
quite thin, but rather good-looking, apparently fifty

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 233

years old, but his hair may be prematurely gray. He
seems to have his hands very full of business, but he
received me with cordiality; took me to the library
and the cabinet of natural history, which are in the
same building, told me to amuse myself till one (the
universal dinner hour), and meet him at the Botanic
Garden at three, and afterwards spend the evening at
his house. The cabinets here are in an old, rather in-
convenient building, once a Jesuits' college, which now
contains them all, as well as the library, the lecture-
rooms of the university, etc., but in a year or so all
will be removed to very fine buildings the king is
erecting for their reception. Excepting the Brazilian
collections, which are large and good, there is nothing
worth particular notice in the zoological and minera-
logical cabinets ; they make no great show after that
of Vienna. The library is immense, this and the one
at Paris being the two largest in the world ; the books
fill a great number of rooms, none of them magnifi-
cent but very convenient ; the whole is soon to be
transferred to other quarters. I was introduced to
one of the librarians, who was at the moment showing
the curiosities of the collection, very old and rich man-
uscripts, — the earliest attempts at wood-engraving,
etc., — to a party of English. When he had done
with them I told him he must have been bored quite
sufficiently for once, and that I would not trouble him
any further just then, but that I wished to acquire
some useful information about the plan and arrange-
ment of the library, rather than to see its curiosities.
So he fixed upon Friday morning, when he would be
quite disengaged, and would gladly afford me all the
information I desired. Shortly after dinner I went
down to the Botanic Garden ; found Martius, who,

234 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

having an unexpected engagement, consigned me to
the head gardener, and I was very kindly shown over
the whole establishment, which is much larger and
better than I had supposed, and in excellent condition.

Afterwards I strolled about the town for an hour
or two, heard the fine military band in the Hofgarten,
and at half past six went to the house of Martius ; saw
his wife, who looks much younger than he, and I suspect
he was not married until after his return from Brazil.
She seems a very intelligent and pleasant lady, under-
stands English pretty well, but does not speak it, while
Martius speaks extremely well ; the eldest daughter,
a pretty girl of thirteen, speaks French fluently, has
taken lessons in English, which she reads readily, but
speaks slightly ; there is another daughter of about
ten, another still younger, and a boy a little more than
a year old completes the list. Professor Zuccarini1
was there, and afterwards an entomologist, whose
name I forget, dropped in ; also a young man from
Rio Janeiro, a Dr. Hentz from Vienna, who inquired
especially after Dr. Buck; the director of the mu-
sic in the royal chapel here ; and two ladies, one of
whom sung exquisitely. The director and Dr. Hentz
both played the piano to perfection, and, to crown all,
Martius seized his fiddle, quite to my surprise, and
played with great spirit. Before they were done a
little crowd had begun to assemble before the windows.
So the evening passed off very pleasantly.

I like the sound of the German language much ; it
is manly, and certainly not more rough than the Eng-
lish. From the lips of the women and the little chil-
dren I assure you it sounds very musical, and I often

1 Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini, 1797-1848 ; professor of botany at
Munich. Among other publications he assisted in describing the
plants collected and described by .^iebold in the Flora Japonica.

JET. 28.] JOURNAL. 235

stop in the street to listen to it, when I do not under-
stand a word that is spoken.

13th June, 1839. — I passed the whole morning, that
is, until one o'clock, at the Botanical Cabinet, looking
at grass and such like. After dinner Zuccarini called
for me, took me to his house, showed me his Japan
plants, the work he is publishing on them, etc. I
looked over and named his American Cyperacea}, and
he made me most bountiful offers for exchange. He
gave me some of his publications and even offered me
his "Japan Flora" (Siebold's), which is an expensive
work, but it is very desirable for us to have, though it
will be rather difficult for me to give him an equiva-
lent. It is now sunset, eight o'clock ; all the shops
in the town have been closed nearly an hour, the peo-
ple all enjoying themselves in the gardens round-
about. I am going to bed early, in hopes to rise in
time to go down to the Garden and hear Martius lec-
ture at seven o'clock. He lectures every morning at
that hour, and Zuccarini again every morning from
eight to nine, and also from eleven to twelve. The
scientific people here have been arranging a little fete
for Saturday, the birthday of LinnaBus. It is decided
that there is to be a botanical excursion, I believe, to
the Tegernsee, some fifteen miles off, and I suppose
also a picnic dinner. I have not learned all the par-
ticulars, but this I shall do in time, as I am to be one
of the party.

14th June, 1839. — I rose early this morning and
went to hear Martius lecture at the Garden at seven
o'clock. He is a good lecturer, fluent and clear.
Called on Dr. Schultes ; l then returned to breakfast ;
afterwards spent the morning at the cabinet, with the

1 Julius Hermann Schultes, 1804. Died in Munich, 1840.

236 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

exception of an hour devoted to the library, which one
of the chief officers very kindly showed me through.
They have about half a million books, excluding dupli-
cates, and about 16,000 manuscripts. The librarian
took much pains to explain to me the arrangement
and classification of the library, which is in excellent
order, and to show me as many of the rarities as I
desired to see : very ancient Greek and Latin manu-
scripts of the Bible or the Evangelists ; a number of
very old and richly illuminated German manuscripts ;
the collection of printed books without date, of which
they had 6000 (these early printed books being many
of them intended to pass for manuscripts) ; a copy of
Faust's Bible again (the first book printed), — they
have two ; Luther's Bible, beautifully printed on
vellum, and illuminated, — in the frontispiece his ori-
ginal portrait, a sturdy-looking old fellow, who looks
as if he might have been as fearless as indeed he was ;
the portrait of Melanchthon, by the same artist, whose
name I forget, is given on the next leaf. I saw also
a manuscript letter of Luther, and many other things,
too tedious to trouble you with now.

Dined with Martins and his very pleasant family ;
stayed until six o'clock, looking over plants, etc. ; took
a little walk, now that it is a little cooler, for the day
has been exceedingly sultry, and am now going to
bed, as I have to rise at half past four and meet the
pedestrian portion of the Linna3an party at half past
five. If it be as sultry a day as this has been we shall
have warm work of it.

15th June, 1839. — We had a truly German fete
champetre, and I have learnt more of German life
and manners in one day than I could otherwise have
obtained in a long time. I was at the place of rendez-

JST. 28.] JOURNAL. 237

vous at the time appointed, and met there the two
professors and about thirty students, with whom we
set out on our excursion, and our number was soon
doubled by the accessions we received. Our course
lay along the banks of the Isar (what lad that has
been at school has not heard of " Isar rolling rap-
idly "), along which we ascended for about six miles,
botanizing on the way. It was about twelve o'clock
when we reached the place where the Linnaean cele-
brations are always held. Here we found Madame
Martius and the girls, who had arrived in a carriage,
and the lady and children of another professor. Three
or four other professors also joined the party : Pro-
fessor Tirsch, the celebrated Grecian scholar ; Pro-
fessor Neumann, of Oriental languages ; a celebrated
physician, and some others. We filled an immense
rustic dinner-table spread in an open pavilion, orna-
mented in a simple manner with branches and flowers,
and a portrait of Linnaeus. Professor Martius then
read his address, which I judged from its effects upon
the audience to be humorous ; then followed the dinner,
plain but good, consisting of three or four courses,
beer supplied ad libitum, and this was no trifle, as you
would understand if you could see how all these Ba-
varians swill their beer. It is light, extremely light
as compared with English. But you may judge how
cheaply the Germans contrive to live, and how cheaply
and simply they get up an affair which in England
or at home would cost a round sum, when I inform
you that the whole charge for dinner was twenty-four
kreutzers or one Austrian zwanziger (sixteen cents!).
This I suppose did not include the wine, of which
there was a small supply, provided, perhaps, by Martius
himself.

238 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

Three or four odes, written for the purpose, some
in Latin, others in German, were sung, with a hearti-
ness and a nicety of execution entirely German. Three
or four toasts were drunk, some speeches made, and
the party left the table. The greater part, excluding
the ladies, then went to the LinnaBan Oak, a young
tree planted on the day of this fete five years ago.
Here all took their seats on the grass around it, and a
number of half-serious, half-humorous addresses or
meditations were made, the people all sitting at their
ease ; then a song for the purpose was sung, and the
celebration was over. Some part dispersed immedi-
ately, but the greater part assembled around our
dinner-table, and heard some music from a paysanne,
who accompanied her voice with an instrument like a
guitar. Martius and Zuccarini had arranged to stay
over night in the neighborhood to botanize to-morrow,
and wished me to stay also, which I declined to do,
but returned in a carriage with Madame Martius and
the eldest daughter. We had a very agreeable ride
and reached the city just as it grew dark. We had
all day most beautiful views of the Bavarian Alps,
which seemed close to us. The different professors
spoke English with me, Professor Neumann, indeed,
extremely well ; were very polite to me, and I obtained
much important information, and have put myself in
the way to get still more. The whole affair was ex-
tremely well arranged. I have printed copies of a
part of the odes, and a copy of the print of Linnaeus,
a very good lithograph, which was brought to the
place and sold to the students for twenty-four kreu-
tzers (sixteen cents) a copy. This is not the birthday
of LinnaBus ; the 24th of May is the proper one, but
it is not then pleasant in the country here.

JST. 28.] JOURNAL. 239

18th June. — On Sunday I attended service in the
Protestant church, a large and fine building, which
was well filled. A part of the royal family are Pro-
testants, but the king himself is a bigoted Catholic.
The interior of the church is made to resemble a
Catholic chapel as much as possible ; the altar has a
picture behind it, and a small crucifix stood upon the
reading-desk. There was a very short liturgy, and
singing in which all the congregation took part, as is
always the case in Germany. The sermon which fol-
lowed may have been very orthodox for all I know, for
I could understand but a few words of it. I spent the
remainder of the day in my own room. . . .

Tuesday evening. — This morning I went to the
cabinet of botany, to the library, and after dinner to
Martius ; looked over his Carices, etc. We then walked
to the Garden, and afterward to the establishment
for telescopes, etc., of the successors of Fraunhofer,
where I bought a very pretty little achromatic glass
and a simple lens ; looked at his workshop and collec-
tions, etc. . . .

It is so long since I have seen your handwriting
that I might forget it, but I met with it to-day very
unexpectedly, you would never guess where! Even
on labels of Carices in Martius' herbarium. After I
get to Switzerland I shall count days until I see Eng-
land again, from which there are but two steps home,
on board a ship, and off again.

ZURICH, June 22, 1839.

In the afternoon I called on Dr. Schultes, who of-
fered me a pretty little parcel of Egyptian plants.
Made up my parcels and left them with Martius, to be
sent, with the things that he and Zuccarini are to add,

240 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

to Hamburg, against my arrival there. Spent the even-
ing at Martius' house, and took my leave of madame
and Caroline. I gave Madame M. my copy of " Childe
Harold," a very pretty one, which she seemed to value
considerably. Martius I saw again the next morning
at the cabinet, and took leave very affectionately ; he
kissing me tenderly, after the German fashion. Ask
Dr. Torrey to look in the list and see if Martius is not
an honorary member of the Lyceum, as I believe, but
am not sure. If he is he knows it not. The Lyceum
has also been remiss in sending him the " Annals,"
which should not be, as he has been a liberal con-
tributor. His works give him much trouble since the
death of the late king, who was his patron and sub-
scribed toward the expense ; the present king does
nothing at all for Martius or for science anyway, so
that poor Martius is a little embarrassed. Meanwhile
he is pressed down with his duties as professor, direc-
tor of the Botanic Garden, etc., for which he is most
miserably paid.

The Botanic Garden is better arranged than any
other I have seen on the Continent, except at Paris,
and I have secured a copy of the plan. But I must
break off with Munich. — Arrived at Lindau, on Lake
of Constance, yesterday ; a fine lake, but too large to
show well ; the shores only at the eastern end moun-
tainous ; the rest ordinary, and in high cultivation,
dotted with thriving villages ; took a steamboat after
dinner for Constance. . . .

ON THE RIGI, 25th June.

I must resume the thread of my narrative where I
left it, at my entrance to Zurich. I did nothing that
evening but look about the town, visit the old church

JET. 28.] JOURNAL. 241

where Zwingli, the earliest Swiss reformer, preached.
The prettiest view is from the new stone bridge which
is thrown across the Limmat just where it emerges
from the lake. The stream, like all those that proceed
from these lakes, is full, and clear almost as glass, of
a fine blue tint ; it rushes with great rapidity, but is
still and even. The view extends up the lake to its
middle, where a slight change in its direction inter-
cepts further view ; beyond rise some low mountains ;
a little farther a higher range overtops these, and these
are again overlooked by the Alps of Glarus, Schwyz,
etc., with thin tall peaks and brilliant glaciers. The
shores of the lake are highly cultivated and thickly
covered with little manufacturing villages. This is a
Protestant canton. I attended church and heard a
preacher who seemed to be very earnest, but as his
language was an unknown tongue, there was little
chance of my being edified, and I spent the remainder
of the day at my room. The new hotel here is ex-
tremely good. Early yesterday morning I prepared
myself for a pedestrian excursion over the finest moun-
tain regions of Switzerland, which will take me about
ten days, if I do not get tired of it and give it up.
Not that I intend to walk all the way, which would be
a great loss of time, but to avail myself of steamboats,
etc., along lakes, and a diligence when I am on routes
which they traverse, knowing full well that there will
remain many weary and difficult miles that can only
be passed by the pedestrian. So I have packed up my
trunk and sent it on to Geneva, at the opposite corner
of Switzerland. The garcon of the hotel purchased a
knapsack for me. . . . Thus equipped, my knapsack
on my back, the Guide to Switzerland in one pocket,
and Keller's excellent map in the other, I set out on

242 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

my travels in search of the sublime. At nine o'clock
yesterday morning I left Zurich ; took the steamboat
down the lake as far as Horgen, some eight or ten
miles, where I took a little lunch, and crossed the
bridge into the little canton of Zug, — Catholic, as
one soon finds out, by the crosses and beggars which
abound by the wayside. Here the lofty Mont Pilate,
with its sharp peaks, was in sight ; it lies on the other
side of Lake Lucerne. Soon after I saw the Lake of
Zug, and soon after one o'clock I reached Zug, on the
borders of the lake of the same name, the capital of
the canton, a retired and lifeless village. I entered
the best hotel well heated with my walk, which now
amounted to about twelve miles. I obtained a plain
but very good dinner of soup, the everlasting corned
beef, fish, roast, and strawberries and cherries ad libi-
tum ; chatted French with the voluble kellnerinn (the
demoiselle of the inn) ; paid my bill of two francs, and
was again on my way. It was very warm, so I walked
quite leisurely down the shore of the lake ; the scenery
growing every moment more picturesque, the Rigi
rising at its foot on one side, bold and abrupt, the
Eossberg on the other. (A sad tale belongs to this
last, of which I had often read.) I reached Arth, the
little village at the foot of the lake and of these two
mountains, at half past four (seven miles) ; took more
strawberries and milk, and at five o'clock commenced
the ascent of the Rigi by the shortest but most dim-
cult footpath. The landlord told me the ascent took
four hours and a half. This, indeed, I accomplished,
but found it a hard task. But the desire of witness-
ing the sunset from the top induced me to do my
best. I had plenty of offers to relieve me of my knap-
sack, and at length, as I left the village, transferred

*:T. 28.] JOURNAL. 243

it to the shoulders of a stout fellow, for it began to
grow weighty. The poor fellow I think earned the
ten batz he demanded (about thirty cents), though he
did not seem to mind it much. The first third of the
ascent the path is formed of steps like a staircase, and
is very fatiguing. After we meet the road for mules
or horses, which ascends from Goldau, it is not so dif-
ficult. Both in the ascent and from the summit, I had
a full view of the vestiges of the awful landslip of the
Rossberg ; the vacant space of the mountain occupied
by the portion that fell and the scarred surface of the
path are most distinctly in view, and at the bottom of
the valley lies the huge and unsightly and confused
mass of rubbish which overwhelmed and buried the
three villages of Goldau, Bussingen, and Rothen.
This catastrophe took place in September, 1806.
Several hundred houses and other buildings were de-
stroyed; cattle in great number, and four hundred
and fifty human beings perished. . . .

But time is becoming precious, and I must tell you
in a few words of the view from the summit of the Rigi,
though description is wholly out of the question. The
view from the Kulm, or peak, owes its great beauty
and extent, not so much to the height of the mountain,
which is only 5676 feet, as to its isolation, giving a
clear view in every direction. It is also easy of access ;
ladies and persons who do not care to walk can ride
up on horses or mules, by either side of the mountain.
So there are great crowds here all the summer. . . .

I was called in the morning at half past three to as-
cend the peak and watch the effect of sunrise upon the
Alps and valleys. The morning proved quite favor-
able, though a little cloudy. The mountains, lakes, and
valleys were all distinct, but looked cold. At length

244 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

a blast from a wooden trumpet (a better instrument
than you would think) announced sunrise, and the sun
appeared between two strips of cloud, lighting- up first
the distant and high peaks and glaciers of the Bernese
Alps, the Jungfrau, the Finster-Aarhorn, the Titlis,
highest of all, — the white glaciers shining like bur-
nished silver. Soon the serrated ridge of the gloomy
Pilatus is lighted up ; the dark valleys become more
distinct ; the lakes look brighter, and the broad valley
toward the north stretches before you like a map, far
as the eye can reach, covered with hamlets and vil-
lages, and diversified here and there with beautiful
lakes. . . .

Stanz, 25th June. ... I intended to leave the
Rigi by way of Waggis on Lake Lucerne; to take
there the steamboat as it passed at two o'clock, and
go up the farther part of the lake, the Bay of Uri,
and finding, if possible, the mail-courier at Fluellen,
to go with him to the summit of the pass of St. Gott-
hard, return as far as Hospital, and cross by the pass
of the Furca and the Grimsel to Grindelwald, etc. If
you had Keller's fine map before you, it would be easy
to trace this route, and to find out also where I now
am. Without it you will not do it so easily. So
having plenty of time, I stayed on the Rigi until
noon, and then descended leisurely, having grown wise
by experience, and knowing that the descent of a steep
mountain is much worse for the legs and feet than the
ascent. Besides, a little storm arose, and I took shel-
ter under an overhanging rock, and amused myself in
watching its progress down the lake, and in hearing
the deep and prolonged echoes of the thunder as it was
reverberated from peak to peak among the Alps. It
was a scene to be remembered. And then the numer-

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 245

ous ever-changing aspects of the mountains and lake
as it cleared up ! Saw the steamboat at a distance,
and hastened to the foot of the mountain, when it
soon became evident enough that the boat did not in-
tend to touch there ; so we took a boat and went out
to meet it. But although we drew very near them as
they passed, they did not choose to take the slightest
notice of us, and I was obliged, in the middle of the
lake, to consider what should be done in such a pre-
dicament. I had no intention of awaiting the return
of the steamboat and going with her to Lucerne,
thence to begin the route to-morrow ; and for a few
moments I was a little bothered. But fortunately a
pedestrian like me is not at the mercy of steamboats
and stagecoaches ; and the high satisfaction one feels
at his comparative independence is one of the great
pleasures of this mode of locomotion, and goes far to
compensate for the fatigue. I reflected that I might
not find the courier at Fluellen, and in that case should
have a prodigious journey, and moreover that I had
clearly saved the money I should have paid. So,
learning on hasty inquiry that a blind mountain path
led from the opposite shore into the canton of Unter-
walden to Staiiz, etc., — from whence I knew I could
reach the Grimsel, and if I chose St. Gotthard, and
that it was the nearest way to the Grindelwald and
all the finest part of Switzerland, — I ordered the
boat to take me to that shore, where I was accordingly
left to shift for myself as well as I could. But then
came on one of the ills that flesh is heir to, most espe-
cially in traveling, — I wanted my dinner ! I stopped
at a cottage, the only one in the vicinity, but found
no one but a little girl, who stared at me as if she had
never seen a civilized being ; saw no chance of getting

246 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

anything to eat, so I climbed the mountain, very
steep, and almost without a path ; it evidently had not
been crossed before, this season. From the top I saw
the bay and village of Buochs, and in the distance,
Stanz, which I reached at six o'clock ; found an inn
which within was more comfortable than its exterior
promised. I think I never enjoyed anything more than
the piece of cold roast veal and coarse bread, and the
plentiful dish of strawberries with excellent cream that
followed. Now that I had got out of the ordinary route
of travelers, I determined to visit the valley of Engel-
berg. I asked the landlord for a char-a-banc (as there
is a good enough road for this vehicle) or a horse, to
go this evening, but mine host seemed to have made
up his mind that I should stay with him all night, and
insisted that there would not be time for Engelberg.
So not to disappoint him, I made up my mind to rest
for the night, and sallied out to look at the village. . . .

METRINGEN, 26th June.

I have accomplished a journey to-day, such as I
think few pedestrians have ever surpassed, consider-
ing the difficulties of a great part of the way, — from
Stanz to Engelberg, thirteen miles, then over a tre-
mendous mountain, the Joch, 6890 feet high, among
the snows and near the glaciers of the Titlis and the
Wenden stock, and then by a long path, through the
most sublime mountain gorge and valley of Engstlen,
to Meyringen. The distance from Engelberg is reck-
oned at nine hours (they always reckon by hours
here), which on ordinary routes would be thirty miles.
I do not know how far it really is. I accomplished it
between half past eleven A. M. and half past seven p. M.,
and am fatigued past all conception, completely done

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 247

over, and my feet apparently spoiled. To-morrow,
perhaps, I will tell you something about it.

GRINDELWALD, Thursday, half past five, 27th June.
I take the first leisure hour to resume my account.
I find that I must have walked about thirty-four miles
yesterday, making due allowance for the windings of
the path. I commenced at five o'clock, reached En-
gelberg at nine, where I rested till half past eleven,
and reached Meyringen, as I said before, at half past
seven. The journey from Stanz is through a narrow
but fertile valley inclosed by high and picturesque
mountains for about seven miles, when the valley con-
tracts, the mountains on each side rise to a great height
into sharp and bare peaks, leaving barely room for
the Aa to descend between. It forms, I may say, one
continual cataract from Engelberg to this point. Be-
fore this pass is reached I had gone by some other
mountains which were very remarkable ; among them
the Brisenstock, a ridge of rock like the upturned
edge of a hatchet, some 6,000 feet high, and throw-
ing up from one extremity a column of rock like a
vast obelisk. The road, which is carried at consid-
erable elevation along one side of this narrow valley,
is not difficult, and exhibits the whole way the most
sublime scenery. The Wallenstock rises on one side
to the height of above 8,000 feet ; and those on the
other side are not less lofty. Presently the shining
summit of the Titlis rises before you, surrounded by
others scarcely less elevated. The Titlis is the highest
of the Unterwalden Alps, 10,710 feet. You then ar-
rive at a place where the Aa forms a series of cataracts
in the bottom of the gorge, nearly a thousand feet
below you ; the opposite mountain exhibits an almost

248 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

perpendicular wall of rock, nearly 6,000 feet high, and
a little cataract formed by the melting snow above
falls from the top to the bottom. Soon I entered the
little valley of Engelberg, the most beautiful and pic-
turesque I have seen, probably the finest in Switzer-
land ; at least that of Meyringen and this of Grindel-
wald, where I am now writing, are not to be compared
with it. I only wonder it is so little known. I think
it not improbable that I am the first American that
has visited it. It is far out of the ordinary routes,
and though easily accessible with chars from Stanz,
yet the three passes that lead out of it are excessively
difficult footpaths. It is a green, sunshiny valley,
having perhaps eighty acres of plain, but very rich
pastures rise up the mountain-sides to some distance ;
it is entirely shut in by the high mountains that rise
on every side ; the Titlis rising abruptly on the south
within a few yards of the village, and sending down
its avalanches in the spring close to the houses. But
the glaciers are so situated as to send their summer
avalanches in the other direction, so that the hamlet
is not in danger; the other mountains toward the
south have the glaciers on their summits, but the
peaks on the other sides present naked precipices.
The Engelberg, from which the hamlet is named
(angel-mountain) is a lofty mountain shaped like a
slender cone, with the apex cut off obliquely. It rises
almost within the valley, and presents a very curious
appearance. The large convent stands just between
the base of this mountain and the Titlis. Attached
to it is a very large and fine church for such an out-
of-the-world place. I stopped at the simple auberge
of the Engel (angel) ; mine host could only speak
o-' understand German and Italian, so that our com-

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 249

munication took place mostly by signs and single
words, I giving him the German names as far as I
could of what I wished. I got a very comfortable
lunch of cold roast meat ; but I wanted some straw-
berries, and could not think of the German name, and
had considerable difficulty. At length he seemed
dubiously to comprehend what I wanted ; he went
out, and returned in a few moments with a fine dish
of the article in question. Excellent cream is as com-
mon as need be ; so I had a fine feast. I found that
I was the first visitor here this season. I amused my-
self with looking over the travelers' book (which you
always find) and reading the remarks of former visit-
ors. An Englishman the summer before had ascended
the highest peak of the Titlis. I afterwards saw that
this could readily be done, as my route led me close
to the top of the main body of the mountain.

To get into the valley of the Aar it was necessary
to cross the Joch, a mountain connected with the
Titlis, and almost as high. The pass between the two
mountains is almost 7,000 feet at the summit, is cov-
ered with snow, and is in immediate proximity with
the glaciers of the Titlis. The ascent is exceedingly
difficult ; indeed, from all I can learn, it is much more
difficult than any of the passes at all frequented by
travelers. I took a guide to the summit and some
distance beyond, as a stranger could never have found
the way. My guide was an old man of sixty years.
From a high ridge near the summit, which belonged
rather to the Titlis, I had a magnificent view of the
mountains to the north and the valley I had passed
through, and on the other side, close to us, of a vast
glacier ; the streams emerging from it formed a small
river, which we had some difficulty in crossing, and

250 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

which emptied into a dark alpine lake just below.
Here I gathered a few alpine plants, as souvenirs of the
place. Another weary climb over the snow brought us
to the top of the Joch, and here, where shelter was im-
possible, we were exposed to a shower, but our umbrel-
las protected us in part, and the view repaid for a little
wetting. Descending a little, my guide showed me a
lake almost surrounded with snow, fed by the glaciers ;
the outlet, the source of one branch of the Aar, was the
stream which flowed down the valley I was to descend
to Meyringen ; the knapsack was again transferred to
my shoulders and I was left to myself. As I entered
the valley of Engstlen the scenery grew wonderfully
fine. Tired as I was I enjoyed the whole journey ex-
tremely, though it took me four hours and a half of
continual descent ; yet I look back upon it with delight.
The main stream formed a succession of beautiful
cascades ; the mountains on each side very high,
and mostly perpendicidar faces of rock, and down
these a great multitude of cascades of all sizes fell,
some of them springing 500 feet at a leap ; others,
falling from much greater height over the rocks,
looked like long skeins of yarn, if you will pardon the
simile, dangling in the air. It must be much like the
valley of the Lauterbrunnen, according to the descrip-
tion ; but I think the latter cannot excel it. I hope
to know to-morrow. A shower drove me into a miser-
able chalet, the highest one inhabited at this season,
where I found a young man, who dwelt there for the
summer, with his herd of goats, and his brother, a
young lad of fifteen, who had come up from Mey-
ringen to bring him some food, etc., and was just
about to return. I drank about a quart of milk fresh
from the goat, and found it excellent. When it

X.T. 28.] JOURNAL. 251

stopped raining the youngster and I started together ;
I transferred my knapsack to his shoulders, and a
franc and a half to his pocket, to the great satisfaction
of both parties. He proved a very useful little fellow,
though I could not understand much of what he said ;
he showed me some waterfalls and curious things that
I should otherwise have missed. With the true spirit
of his nation, ever ready to improve an opportunity,
he told me he had a brother who spoke French, who
would be my guide for the next day. It rained most of
the way, but I was compensated for the partial wetting
by the views of the most beautiful waterfalls, which
fell into the valley in great profusion from the high
precipices on each side. I could sometimes see twenty
at one view. After a long and weary descent we came
at last near the bottom, where this valley, and two
others almost at the same point, fell into the main
valley of the Aar, and I could look at the same
moment up four deep and wild mountain valleys.
Then skirting along the side of the mountain, we soon
descended to Meyringen, deep in the main valley of
the Aar, with two fine cascades behind it, and another
very fine one, the cascade of the Reichenbach, on
the opposite side of the valley. Glad enough was
I when we reached the door of the humble auberge,
and great was the havoc I made with the eatables
which the kind landlady provided in abundance and
of excellent quality. I sat down on a sofa in my
chamber to read a little, but fell asleep instantly ;
slept until eleven, then took my bed and slept until
half past seven in the morning.

I can say, with Sancho Panza, " Blest be the man
who first invented sleep." In the evening, what with
my great fatigue and blistered feet, I supposed I

252 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

should be scarcely able to move the next day, and that
traveling on foot would be impossible. But I awoke
perfectly restored, my limbs supple and my feet much
better than I had anticipated ; my guide made his ap-
pearance while I was at breakfast ; said that it would
take three days to make the excursion over the Great
Scheideck to Grindelwald, then over the Lesser to the
Wengern Alp, to Lauterbrunnen, and back to Mey-
ringen by Interlaken and the Lake of Brienz. I insisted
that it should be done in two, with the aid of a char
from Brienz, at the end of the second day. Leaving
my knapsack here, and taking a few things in our
pockets, we set out at half past nine ; stopped on our
way to see the falls of the Reichenbach, where the
stream of the valley we were climbing makes the de-
scent of 2,000 feet in a succession of leaps ; the longest
forms the celebrated falls, — very fine. Farther above
numerous waterfalls are seen dangling from the per-
pendicular sides of the narrow valley ; one, remarkably
high and slender, is called the Seilbach (rope-fall).
Ascended through beautiful mountain pastures, dotted
with chalets 5 the peak of the Wetterhorn in full view
directly before us, a sharp pyramid, one side dark
rock, the other pure white snow. The body of the
mountain was still hidden by the Wellborn, the first of
the chain of high Bernese Alps we were approaching
(9,500 feet) ; then the Engelhorner (angel' s-peaks)
and high up between these, we had a fine distant view
of the most beautiful glacier in Switzerland, the Ro-
senlaui, celebrated above all others for the purity of
its untarnished white surface, and the clear azure of
its depths and caverns. Stopped at a little inn, which
is occupied only through the summer ; got an excel-
lent little dinner at half past eleven, charges moder-

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 253

ate ; visited another waterfall, and then walked half
an hour out of our way to the foot of the Rosenlaui
glacier, which descends to only 4,200 feet above the
level of the sea ; found a party there, two gentlemen
and lady, the latter carried in a chair ; admired the
pure white surface, entered a little way into one of the
crevices, looked down into the deep azure chasms ;
returning, viewed the awful gorge through which the
stream from the glaciers makes its way, at least 500
feet deep, and only four or five feet wide, the water
rushing and boiling and roaring in the bottom like
mad. Threw down a big stone, and heard it crashing
against the sides and shattered to atoms. Continued
up the Scheideck, close along the broad and vast per-
pendicular side of the Wetterhorn ; finally reached
the summit of the pass (6,040 feet), and enjoyed the
magnificent view of the mountains down the valley of
the Grindelwald. The Wetterhorn (peak of tem-
pests) rises, one vast precipice of alpine limestone, its
base extending from Grindelwald on the one side
almost to Rosenlaui on the other, and so near us that
it seemed easy for a strong man to throw a stone
against it, though it is really more than a mile off ;
its summit is 11,450 feet above the sea ; this precipice
consequently forms a wall about 6,000 feet in height.
Next to this is the Mettenberg (perhaps 10,000
feet) ; and next, the great Eiger (giant, 12,220
feet), presenting its long thin edge, like the blade of a
hatchet turned up into the air ; while back of the
Mettenberg appears the pointed cone of the Schreck-
horn (the peak of terror, 12,500 feet). The vast
space between these peaks is filled by an immense
glacier, here and there interrupted, which under vari-
ous names extends from Rosenlaui and Grindelwald

254 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

almost to the Grimsel, and to Brieg in the Valais.
The increasing supply of ice and the refrigeration of
such an immense quantity forces branches down the
valleys far below the level of perpetual snow, particu-
larly these at Grindelwald, the lowest known ; the
base of the lowermost being little more than 3,000
feet above sea-level. I descended rapidly, looked
down upon the two glaciers just mentioned, reached
the little hamlet of Grindelwald in the bottom of the
valley, close at the feet of these vast mountains, and a
little above the foot of the lower glacier, which is so
close that it seems almost possible to throw a stone to
it ; but I believe it is a mile off ; reached here at five
o'clock (twenty-one miles), having walked very deli-
berately. It is now just at sunset ; the day has been
warm ; but now it is very cold, and I am shivering
too much to hold my pen ; besides, it is time for sup-
per, and I want another view of the mountains.
Adieu. . . .

Villeneuve, 4th July, 1839. . . . Being unexpectedly
detained here for a few hours, almost at the close of
my Swiss pilgrimage, I resume my pen, which I have
had no time to use for some time past, and must
bring up my journal in a hurried way to the present.
Since I broke off I have seen more than half the won-
ders of Switzerland. I can only now tell you where I
have been from day to day ; but I shall have much to
give you viva voce some of the evenings of the rapidly
approaching autumn. Stayed at Grindelwald Thurs-
day night (a week ago) ; watched the clouds striking
against the Wetterhorn and the Eiger and rolling
down its sides ; terribly cold. Friday, 28th, rose at
four ; started at five, in fine walking trim, after pay-
ing an exorbitant bill for very indifferent fare : was

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 255

very confident that the guide paid nothing, and there-
fore suspected a connivance between him and the
aubergiste to put all on my shoulders, — one of the
evils of a guide ; they are worse than useless on all the
usual routes, indeed anywhere, except in ascending
very high mountains and crossing glaciers ; felt a
little inclined to punish my guide, and therefore set
off at a swinging pace and took him up the Little
Scheideck much more rapidly than he ever went be-
fore. I buttoned up my coat and pretended not to be
making any effort at all, while the poor fellow stripped
off first his coat, then his waistcoat, the perspira-
tion 'running off his face ; until finally he pronounced
it impossible to keep near me, and lagged far behind.
At length I took pity on him and walked slower, but
we crossed the Scheideck and reached the Wengern
Alp, a journey of four hours and a half, in a little less
than three. . . .

From the crest of the Little Scheideck (6,300 feet)
I got my first near view of the remainder of the high
Bernese Alps, — the Monch (12,660 feet), the Jung-
frau (12,670 feet) (I have been giving you the height
all along in French feet, as they are put down in Kel-
ler ; in English feet the numbers will be considerably
higher), with the two white peaks, the Silberhorner
(silver-peaks), which belong to it.

Still beyond, though not quite so lofty, were the
Grosshorn, the Breithorn, etc. The point where I
stood commanded nearly the whole view, from the
Engelhorner, Wetterhorn, a glimpse of the Schreck-
horn, the Mettenberg, Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau,
as I stood just in the mid-distance; an unsurpassed
view it is. As I descended the other side to the Wen-
gern Alp I lost those more to the east, but came still
nearer to the Jungfrau. . . '.

256 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

At the Jungfrau hotel, a mere chalet on the side
of the Wengern Alp, we were close under that mag-
nificent mountain, separated only by a narrow gorge,
and elevated just enough to have the most perfect
view from base to summit. We had heard the day
previous the crash and roar of falling avalanches on
the other side of the Wetterhorn, and I was very
anxious to see one; before long I saw two, one of
them a pretty good one, come tumbling and roaring
down the Jungfrau. Soon a thick cloud came and
enveloped these mountains, so that I departed earlier
than I should have done ; it threatened to rain ; and
we descended into the valley of Lauterbrunnen, which
is very deep and narrow, and had on the way a fine
view of the valley and the mountains and glaciers that
close its upper extremity. Saw the celebrated fall of
the Staubbach, and was disappointed in it. ...

Walked rapidly down the valley of Lauterbrunnen
to the lake of Brienz, turning aside so as not to pass
through Interlaken, which is a little British colony;
took a boat to the opposite end of the lake (eight
miles) ; had a heavy shower and much wind ; saw the
falls of Giessbach from the lake, seven very fine cas-
cades one above the other. Landed at Brienz ; took
a char up to Meyringen again, looking at the beauti-
ful waterfalls from each side of the valley, now very
full from the rains. Arrived at my own lodgings at
five o'clock, having accomplished in the twelve hours
fifty miles, of which thirty -two were traveled on
foot.

Saturday, 29th, rose in good condition, breakfasted,
and parted with ray thoroughly Swiss landlady at five
o'clock ; went up the vale of Hassli, one of the finest
in Switzerland, for the Grimsel, perhaps the wildest

^T. 28.] JOURNAL. 257

«

and grandest pass across the Alps. It is a footpath,
or at best a bridle-path. I set out alone, with my
knapsack on my back. Ascended a considerable dis-
tance when the clouds sunk lower and it began to rain,
though I had the satisfaction to see down the valley
that the sun was shining at Meyringen. Passed the
last little village (Guttannen), a lonely place ; above,
the scenery grew to the very height of gloomy gran-
deur : immense blackened granitic mountains, clothed
at the base with black stunted firs, above all naked tre-
mendous rocks and peaks ; between, just room enough
for the river to tumble along, forming here and there
a cataract. The view was heightened much, I doubt
not, by the clouds and storm, so entirely in character
with the scenery. I never before enjoyed a lonely
rainy walk so much.

At the height of about 4,500 feet, and in the midst of
the very wildest and most lonely scenery, reached the
falls of the Aar at Handek, the finest in Switzerland,
— indeed the only sublime waterfall here ; viewed it
first from below, then from the rude bridge thrown
across just a few feet above where it leaps into the
awful gorge. The scenery and all is in character, and
for savage grandeur I have seen nothing to compare
with it. Stopped at the chalet near, the only dwelling
within some miles ; waited a little for the rain to sub-
side, and finding that even here a traveler's first wants
had been pretty well provided for, I made an early but
most excellent dinner upon bread, butter, cheese, and
honey, the last especially excellent. No signs of better
weather ; so started on, passing a spot where falling
avalanches every winter and spring had swept over a
vast space of rock and completely worn it smooth ; was
now above trees, with here and there a bit of scanty

258 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

vegetation, but almost every step to the end was now
on rock or snow, and I walked on to the hospice near
the summit in the midst of a snowstorm, one and a
half hours ; knowing it could scarcely accumulate
sufficiently to obstruct or obscure entirely the path
until I could reach the place of shelter, I enjoyed it
intensely, but had quite enough when, at one o'clock, I
reached the hospice (twenty miles), near the summit
of the pass, surrounded with unmelted snow, more
than 6,000 English feet above the sea. It is as com-
fortable a place as can be expected in such a situation,
now kept as a kind of inn during the summer, and in
winter left in charge of a single servant, with a store
of provisions to last him until spring. The winter
before last it was crushed by an avalanche, but the
man and his dog escaped, and reached Meyringen in
safety. It is now repaired ; the stone walls are ex-
tremely thick, the roof protected against the winds, as
is usual here, by laying huge stones upon it. Laid
aside part of my wet clothes, and lay down before the
fire to dry the remainder ; fell asleep ; on waking had
just begun to write, but when I had given the head-
ing, in came three more travelers : two Germans, whom
I had met before at Grindelwald, and a young Eng-
lishman ; all thoroughly wet with the storm, which
was now more violent. We all had to huddle about
the fire, so there was an end of writing.

Awoke Sunday morning and found myself in mid-
winter ; very cold, snowing hard, and the wind howl-
ing frightfully around our humble but snug place of
refuge. The other travelers determined to prosecute
their journey, spite of the Sabbath or the storm, and
to go by way of the glacier of the Rhone, the other
side of the summit of the pass and about four miles

2ET.28.] JOURNAL.

distant. They sallied out with their guide and left
me to myself, which was one advantage. But in three
hours they returned, giving an alarming account of
the difficulties and dangers of the way. When just
abandoning the attempt they heard a cry for help, and
succeeded in rescuing another party of three with their
guide, who had lost their way in the thick mist and
storm and were wandering about in the drifts, suf-
fering extremely with the cold, and who, as well as
their guide, had given up all hope of reaching the
hospice unless their cries should perchance be heard
and bring them aid. All returned to the hospice
together, and no further attempts to leave it were
made that day. When left alone I had the fire to
myself, and was spending the time in as profitable a
manner as possible, thinking a little, too, of the strange-
ness of passing the day in such an elevated position ;
so their return, with an accession to their company,
though very desirable for them, was not so favorable
to me. And then of all people in the world the Ger-
mans are the noisiest talkers ; Frenchmen are nothing
to them ; the fire which dried their clothes and warmed
their fingers loosened their tongues, and they kept up
a continual gabble for the greater part of the day.
Scarcely a winter passes that some persons are not
lost in this pass during such storms. A gloomy lake
on the summit of the mountain, into which the bodies
are thrown for burial, receives the name of " The
Lake of the Dead " (Todten-See).

Monday morning, still enveloped in the clouds, but
the storm apparently over. Found it no use trying
to make a visit to the Rhone glacier ; the clouds were
so thick we could scarcely hope to find it, and the
recent snow so deep nothing could be seen. Was

260 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

disappointed also by these same clouds in getting a
view of the high Bernese Alps, particularly Finstei*
Aarhorn and the glaciers, from this side, but deter-
mined not to wait here longer ; so set off at half
past ten in company with a native of Yalais, who was
traveling towards home and served as guide ; traveled
through deep snow, climbed up to the summit of the
pass, more than a thousand feet higher, where at first
we were so completely enveloped in the clouds that we
seemed actually to be traveling through them and on
them ; dug a specimen or two of Soldanella out of the
snow to serve as souvenirs. At length the wind arose
and now and then sent a hole in the clouds, to give
me some glimpses of the desolate yet grand scenery
through which we were passing. Soon I got a view of
the valley of the Rhone almost at its commencement,
with the river flowing through like a mere rivulet ;
looked down upon Oberwald, the highest village in
Valais, a collection of little chalets all huddled to-
gether as if to keep themselves warm, — as indeed
they have need ; got out of winter and snow and into
the valley at the little village of Obergesteln, and
walked, on the same day, through a quick succession
of most retired little Swiss villages of the humblest
sort, to Brieg, on the Simplon road, near the mountain
of that name, which I reached at nine o'clock in the
evening, making a journey of forty miles, a portion
through the snow, in ten hours and a half. I would
like to tell you much about the upper Valais, a region
seldom visited by travelers, but have not time ; peo-
ple kind and simple ; got nothing to eat on the way
except hard and dry brown bread, that may have been
baked ten days ; passed the villages where avalanches
had fallen in former years and crushed many people ;

XT. 28.] JOURNAL. 261

the scenery much more picturesque than I expected, but
was most interested in the people and their little vil-
lages ; women mowing, reaping, and doing every sort of
the hardest labor ; all awfully afflicted with goitre,
scarce a person wholly free from it ; actually saw one
woman with a goitre not quite as large as her own head
certainly, but about the size of that of the child she held
in her arms, apparently a year old ; saw one cretin.
Stopped a few moments at the principal auberge in
the village of Viesch ; found the priest with two of his
parishioners playing a game of cards together. A
stranger being a curiosity in that region, one person
accosted me very politely, and took me up the valley
a little way to see the glacier and mountains. Reached
Brieg utterly worn out, but got a good supper and
bed ; this being just where the famous Simplon road
commences the ascent of the mountains, there are
many travelers and a good hotel, though dear.

Rose Tuesday morning at four o'clock ; my feet
and legs very stiff and sore ; thought of going up
the Simplon road into the mountains to see some of
the galleries and bridges and get fine views, but the
morning was cloudy and I did not like to lose the
time ; started off down the valley, but got on slowly
and very painfully ; however, walked as far as Leuk,
I believe about twenty-four miles, and there hired a
char, which took me on to Sion, the capital of the
canton, about twenty-two miles further, where I slept.

Wednesday, rose at four, and feeling pretty stout,
I started off at five on foot, and though certainly in
very far from the best condition for walking, went on
to Martigny to breakfast, which place I reached at half
past ten, twenty-four miles according to the guide-
book, but the latter part was very painful. From this

262 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

place one may go to the Hospice of St. Bernard in
ten hours. I would have been glad to have seen so
famous a place, but as to scenery it is decidedly in-
ferior to much I had already seen. One may go to
Chamouni in nine hours, getting the superb view of
Mont Blanc from the summit of Col de Balme on the
way. Thinking it impossible to walk farther, I hired
a mule, and a person with him, and went up to the top
of Col de Balme (five hours), passing the vale and
glacier of Trient. Reached the summit at four
o'clock; enjoyed a fine view of Mont Blanc and its
attendant peaks from top to bottom, or rather at top
and bottom, for there was a belt of cloud about the
middle, — a most superb and complete view, Mer de
Glace and all.

Quite satisfied without going to Chamouni, so re-
turned to Martigny at eight P. M. ; another good day's
work, particularly as I walked both up and down the
worst part of the road, being merciful to the beast.
On my descent obtained a splendid view of the Bern-
ese Alps. Much amused at looking over the register
at the hotel, where the travelers expressed their opin-
ions of the different hotels on the road, praising some,
and speaking of others in terms of great reprobation;
good plan. I think if the proprietor of the hotel at
Sion (a very dirty hotel) could read all that is writ-
ten in his own book he would burn it. ... Lay down
and slept till midnight.

Thursday, took diligence at one o'clock A. M. for
Villeneuve ; saw the falls of the Sallanches by moon-
light ; arrived at Villeneuve at half past seven, just
after the morning steamboat had left for Geneva ;
am confident we were delayed on purpose, to induce
us to go on in the diligence instead of the next boat.

MT. 28.] JOURNAL. 263

For myself I did not mind waiting till one o'clock,
that I might make myself look a little decent, though
I had not the means here of improving my appearance
much ; as to my boots, and indeed all my habiliments,
they were much in the condition of those of the Gib-
eonites when they made their visit to Joshua. Wrote
a little, went out to take a look at the Castle of Chil-
lon, which is near, — the building itself not remark-
able, but the situation fine. . . .

Took the steamboat in the afternoon ; passed Vevay,
Lausanne, etc., etc., and after traversing the whole
length of this much-admired, most beautiful lake, ar-
rived at Geneva just at sunset ; having accomplished
my pedestrian tour (long to be remembered) in ten
days (excluding the Sunday). . . .

GENEVA, 19th July.

My mornings, between eleven and four, have been
constantly and fully occupied at De Candolle's.
Earlier in the morning I have spent much time with
Mr. Duby,1 a botanist and clergyman, — one of the
government pastors here, and it is said almost the
only one who is a pious man. I have yet to pack up
a box of my gatherings and to send to the roulage to
be forwarded to New York. I have taken lodgings,
for my short stay here" with the Wolff family, very
pious and excellent people, who are pretty well known
to many persons of the same class in New York. One
of the daughters is the wife of Dr. Buck,2 and I be-
lieve your dear mother is acquainted with her. After
dinner I have sometimes made little excursions in the

1 Jean Etienne Duby, 1797-1885 ; long one of the Genevese clergy
and a botanist and colleague of Augustin Pyramus de Candolle.

2 Dr. Gurdon Buck.

264 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

neighborhood ; once or twice I have been accompanied
by Madame Wolff and the two daughters. They are
very fond of walking, and often make long excursions
on foot. The two daughters walk as fast as I can,
and in fact one of them nearly tired me down the
other day, when we were hurrying in order to watch
the effect of the setting sun on Mont Blanc. I have
taken quite a fancy to this river, the Rhone. I made
my acquaintance with it when it was but a babbling
brook ; I have trudged along with it for many a mile,
until it grew to a headstrong stream, and became so
turbulent and muddy that it was obliged to jump into
the lake to wash itself clean, and when it leaves the
lake it is as clear as crystal, — emerald, I should say,
for it is about that color. A few months ago I saw
the same river in its old age, just falling into the
ocean. Walked back along the shore of the lake ;
reached the house just in time to join in the evening
worship, — a sweet hymn was sung (in French), one
of the young ladies leading with the piano and all
joining with their voices, and hearts, too, I doubt not ;
and then the venerable old man read a chapter, which
I could understand very well, and closed with a simple
and fervent prayer. You cannot know yourself how
pleasant it is, after being jolted about in the rude
world for months, to get again with a pious family.
The house is just without the town, surrounded with a
large garden and fine trees and shrubbery, and all
very pleasant. Some days after, we made another ex-
cursion to visit their pastor. He was not at home, so
I missed him, but saw his pretty garden. On the two
Sundays I have heard one of the pastors of the Evan-
gelical Society preach in the morning, and the clergy-
man of the English chapel in the afternoon. I have

MT. 28.] TO GEORGE P. PUTNAM. 265

also had the satisfaction of seeing Mr. Malan, who,
when he called here the other day, was so good as to
hold a long and edifying religious conversation with
me. He is a very apostle in appearance, and in con-
versation. Indeed, I have been thrown here into the
midst of religious society of a high tone and of great
sweetness and simplicity. I hope I have received
some benefit from it. As I leave here I shall lose all
this and shall see nothing more like it until I get home
again. . . .

TO GEORGE P. PUTNAM.

BALE, July 23d.

... I left on Saturday morning for Lausanne and
Freiburg, where I heard the big organ on Sunday ;
came on in the night to Berne, and yesterday to this
place over the Jura. I wished here to see Professor
Meisner, but found out this morning, some hours after
the steamboat had left, that he was absent on a
journey. I was a great fool for not finding that out
last night, in which case I should now have been
below Strasburg, — and this evening at Mannheim.
As it is, I can't wait here till Thusday morning for
the next boat, and shall leave this evening for Schaff-
hausen and Tubingen, and thence push on, the best
way I can, for Dresden and Leipsic. I do not lose a
moment of time. Do not be surprised if I drop in
upon you about the 4th or 5th of September. I would
like to sail for home the latter part of that month. In
early winter we will hope to give you an entire volume
of " Flora," and see what you can do with it. I have
blocked out, in my mind, scientific labor enough for
several years to come, and several works some of
which will be good in a publisher's acceptance of the

266 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

term ; others, I dare say, not. As Murray's fame is
derived from Byron, so shall you be immortalized and
known to all posterity as the publisher of the cele-
brated Dr. Gray ! ! !

We have not much time to lose, and on my arrival
at London I shall be wonderfully busy. I hope you
will have picked up a great quantity of books for me
by that time. My future credit and comfort will very
much depend upon my bringing home an immense
quantity of books for my money. . . . When I was in
England I could scarcely hold up my head as a Yan-
kee should — what with our border wars and domestic
quarrels. But now I feel greatly relieved. The re-
cent "Birmingham affair" and several other things
fortunately (?) give me " wherewith to answer them
that are of the contrary part." Let them shut their
mouths now ! You know my address at Berlin, or
you may address poste restante if you will. I think
I shall be there till about the 25th August. I shall
stop a few days at Hamburg. I think I may say that
I shall not go up to Rostock. You will perhaps be
receiving some letters for me, which, now you know
my movements, you will act according to discretion
either in forwarding to me or in retaining.

I have bought scarcely any books since I left Paris.
I have had some good ones given me.

Excuse this hurried epistle. I have precious little
time, and I find I am growing more and more slov-
enly every day. Adieu.

Most truly yours,

A. GRAY.

.ET. 28.] TO GEORGE BENTHAM. 267

TO GEORGE BENTHAM.

. . . Arrived at Geneva by way of Villeneuve and the
Lake. De Candolle and Alphonse had returned only
three days previous to my arrival. They received me
very cordially, and I went through the herbarium as
far as the " Prodromus " is prepared.

From Geneva I went to Lausanne and Freiburg ; . . .
thence to Berne, where I made no stay ; thence to
Bale, to Schaffhausen, to Tubingen, where I spent the
morning with Mohl ; l reached Stuttgart toward even-
ing and Heidelberg the next morning. Frankfort in the
evening ; took the eilwagen the same night for Leipsic ;
saw Pbppig, 2 Schwagrichen, 3 etc. ; railroad to Dres-
den ; saw Reichenbach 4 for a few moments, as he went
into the country the same day ; visited the picture-
gallery, which deserves to be called the richest out of
Italy ; returned to Leipsic ; to Halle ; passed a day or
two with Schlechtendal ; 5 saw the Carices in the her-
barium of Schkuhr ; 6 Potsdam, Sans-Souci, the mar-
ble palace, the beautiful statue of the late queen of
Prussia by Rauch (the second and best one) ; and
thence to Berlin, where I remained nearly a month ;
saw the botanists, etc.

1 Hugo von Mohl, 1805-1872. Born at Stuttgart. Professor of
botany at Tubingen. ' ' Chief of the vegetable anatomists of this gen-
eration1' [A. G.].

2 Eduard Friedrich Poppig, 1798-1868 ; professor of zoology at
Leipsic. Made collections of plants in Cuba, Chili, Peru, and on the
upper Amazon.

3 Christian Friedrich Schwagrichen, 1775-1853; professor of
natural history at Leipsic.

4 Heinrich Gottlieb Reichenbach, 1793-1879 ; professor of botany
at Dresden. A voluminous author, especially of illustrated works on
European plants.

5 D. F. L. von Schlechtendal, 1784-1866. University of Halle.
Editor of the Linncea and Botanische Zdtung.

6 Christian Schkuhr, 1741-1811. History of Carices, 1802.

268 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

TO WILLIAM J. HOOKER.

LONDON, September 13.

MY DEAR FRIEND, — The " penny postage system''
not being yet in operation, I embrace an opportunity
that offers to send you a line in Pamphlin's par-
cels. I am again in London, you see ; indeed I have
been here about a week. But it is only to-day that I
have had intelligence of your return to Scotland. I
had some hopes that I should find you in London on
my arrival, or that you would return here from
Chatham, and that I should have the gratification of
seeing you once more. I received your welcome letter
of August 14th, at Berlin, for which I thank you much.
I wish my friends at home were half as prompt cor-
respondents. While on the Continent I have received
precious few letters.

I have been much interested at Berlin, and worked
hard. The herbarium of Willdenow is larger and in
better condition than I supposed, and the gen-
eral herbarium is very interesting and rich. Klotzsch 1
is very industrious, and has got the whole collection in
much better order than most of the herbaria on the
Continent. I am under great obligations to Dr.
Klotzsch, who not only afforded me every facility at
the Herbarium, but most cheerfully aided me in every
possible way, and during a transient illness (for I
was confined to my room for a week or so, and to my
bed for a few days) he procured for me the best med-
ical advice, and took a great deal of trouble on my
account.

I lost some time by this, but fortunately I had nearly
finished my work at the Herbarium, and afterwards

1 Dr. J. H. Klotzsch, 1805-1800 ; keeper of the Royal Herbarium
at Berlin.

*:T. 28.] TO WILLIAM J. HOOKER. 269

I had a few days to finish, and to look at Kunth's1
herbarium, with which I was rather disappointed.
Kunth was extremely polite and attentive to me. He
is at work upon the third volume of his " Enumeratio,"
but I fear it will not be very well done. I saw Ehren-
berg2 frequently, and Link3 once or twice, but nearly
all my time was spent at Schonberg, where the Bo-
tanic Garden and Herbarium are situated, which is
nearly a half hour's ride from the city. The garden
is much the finest in Germany, and the government
annually expends very large sums upon it. The build-
ing exclusively devoted to the herbarium is very com-
modious, though Klotzsch begins to complain that he
has not sufficient room. It is so far from town that
there are no loungers there, and one may study per-
fectly undisturbed. I brought a few things for you
from Klotzsch and Link, which Pamphlin is to send
to-morrow.

Having lost some time by illness I did not go to
Rostock, a most out-of-the-world place, although I
suppose I shall hereafter regret that I did not see
Lamarck's herbarium.

I spent several days at Hamburg, saw Lehmann, his
herbarium, and the botanic garden ; and took steam-
boat for London. Since my return I have been busily
occupied in the city, completing some purchases for

1 Karl Sigismund Kunth, 1788-1850. Appointed professor of bot-
any at Berlin, 1819. Author of Enumeratio Plantarum and other well-
known descriptive works.

2 Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg, 1794-1876. Berlin. Student of
the microscope, and author of works on the lower forms of plants and
animals.

3 Heinrich Friedrich Link, 1767-1851. Professor at Breslau, then
at Berlin. Wrote Anatomy of Plants and Elements of Botanical Phil-

270 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839,

the Michigan University, and shall be mostly thus
employed during the remainder of niy stay. . . .

19th September. — I saw Dr. Richardson the day
before yesterday, who informed me that the Erebus
was still lying at Chatham, and (what I was not
aware of) that I could reach Chatham in three or
four hours. So I arranged at once to go down and
see Joseph before he started, but the next day I
learned that the vessels had dropped down from that
port.

I expect to sail in the Toronto from Portsmouth on
the 1st October. ... I have yet very much to do.
Yesterday I dined with Dr. Lindley and visited the
Garden. One wing of the conservatory is erected
and nearly covered with glass. It is entirely glass
and iron, about 130 feet long, and will be very fine.
. . . Believe me, my very dear friend, most truly
yours,

A. GRAY.

NEW YORK, 5th November, 1839.

MY DEAR FATHER, — Through the favors of a kind
Providence, my journey is safely brought to a close.
I am happy to inform you that I reached New York
last evening in the ship Toronto, after a passage of
thirty-five days. I left London on the last of Sep-
tember, and Portsmouth on the 1st ult. The steam-
ship Great Western, which left on the 19th of last
month, reached New York two days before us ! Our
voyage was a rather pleasant one, although we had
nearly forty passengers. It was rather rough, but no
very hard gales. I was sea-sick but a single day, and
then but slightly. I have brought with me nearly the
full amount of my purchases of books for the Michi-

JET. 28.] TO HIS FATHER. 271

gan library, a large collection. I am waiting to hear
from Detroit to know whether it will be necessary for
me to go up there this fall. I hope I shall not be
obliged to make this journey until spring. I shall
not come up to see you until I hear from Michigan,
when I can take Sauquoit in my way if it be neces-
sary to go to Michigan. I am now busy in getting
my boxes and parcels through the custom-house, which
is a tedious business. I hope I shall be allowed to
remain here during the winter, as I have a great deal
to do here.

I find here a letter from my friend Dana, of the Ex-
ploring Expedition, dated Valparaiso. He seems not
very well satisfied with his situation. I have not
heard from any of you for a full year. Perhaps one
of my sisters will favor me with a letter now that I
am so near. Love to all.

CHAPTER IV.

A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME.

1840-1850.

ON Dr. Gray's return from Europe, the University
of Michigan not yet needing his services, he settled
in New York to work on the "Flora of North
America." 1

In 1841 he made his first journey to the mountains
of North Carolina, of which he wrote an account in the
"American Journal of Science " in the form of a
letter to Sir William Hooker.

The country west of the Mississippi was just now
opened to exploration, and for some years continued
to afford an immense amount of new material to the
botanist. Dr. Gray, and his friends Dr. Torrey and
Dr. Engelmann especially, interested themselves in
sending collectors with the various expeditions, ex-
plorations, boundary surveys, etc., and were kept very
hard at work in studying and distributing the several
collections as they came in. The difficulties of com-
munication were great, postage was very dear, and
the post-office rule that sheets, no matter of what
size, could be sent as one letter, while the addition of

1 A Flora of North America ; containing abridged descriptions of
all the known indigenous and naturalized plants growing north of
Mexico ; arranged according to the natural system. By John Torrey
and Asa Gray. New York. 8vo ; vol. i., 1838-1840, pp. xvi, 711 ;
vol. ii., 1841-1843, pp. 504.

JET. 29.] TO W. J. HOOKER. 273

any separate inclosure was utterly forbidden, added
difficulties almost insurmountable to the transmission
of any specimen. Even as late as 1850 the large
parcels from St. Louis were sent by steamboat to New
Orleans and then by sailing vessel to New York or
Boston.

Foreign communication was not much better, as Dr.
Gray writes to Sir William Hooker in March, 1840 :
" I have been waiting during the winter to write by
some of the steamships, but they have disappointed
us, and, though long expected, none reached us until
the arrival of the Great Western a week or more
since, which brought us fifty-six days' later intelli-
gence from Europe."

TO W. J. HOOKER.

NEW YORK, May 30, 1840.

I have been tolerably industrious for some years,
but have never labored as I have done this winter
and spring. But I look now for a little respite, which
I greatly need. I have this afternoon written the de-
scription of the last plant we have to give in the 1st
volume of the " Flora " (a new cucurbitaceous genus,
of which more anon) ; have prepared the last sheet
for the press, — that is, of the work proper, which
reaches to page 656 instead of 550, as intended ; and
have before me proofs of the supplement extending to
page 672 ; what is yet to come will make up the
volume to 720 pages ! It has extended beyond all
calculations or bounds, but we could not stop short. I
hope to have done with the proofs early next week,
when I expect to go immediately into the country and
recruit for three or four weeks, for I am quite fagged
out. Except, however, mere fatigue and the usual

274 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1840,

consequences of loss of rest, I was never, perhaps,
more perfectly in health, and a fortnight or so of
botanizing will restore my strength. You kindly in-
quire about my plans and prospects. These are so far
favorable that they will give me (D. V.) another year
of nearly undivided attention to the " Flora." Not long
since I was officially informed that the opening of our
university would be postponed another year, on ac-
count of unfavorable times, and the preparations not
being sufficiently advanced. So I am told that I can
have my time nearly all to myself until next spring
(1841) if I wish (which of course I do), but without
any salary, which, indeed, I could not with any pro-
priety take while I perform no duty. By very close
economy I think I shall get on for the year to come,
and be able to accomplish a good deal of botanical
work. I am going to pay the Michigan people a
visit, and if they make good their promises made to
me a year ago, as I have reason to think they will,
their course towards me will have been liberal and
honorable. I have good reason to hope they will
eventually succeed in their plans.

By the London packet of the 15th of June we hope
to send you and other friends some copies of the
" Flora," parts 3 and 4. There are so many errors, so
much bad printing, and so many things that we could
now do much better, that I regret that any portion was
published before my visit to Europe. Many of the
most important corrections are given with additions,
etc., in a supplement, but I hope we shall continue to
improve as we go on. We can work to much greater
advantage than before, from being much better sup-
plied with books, as well as with specimens and in-
formation. Yet often do I wish to be within reach of

JET. 29.] TO W. J. HOOKER. 275

your herbarium and library. Long accustomed to
these advantages, you can scarcely appreciate the diffi-
culties we often find. I was to-day wishing for a
look at your Cucurbitaceae ; we have, as you know,
but few of the order.

I shall not be able to visit Florida or any part of
the Southern States this summer; indeed, I fear I
shall be debarred from any botanical journeys for some
years. I must direct all my time and strength to our
" Flora." I hope we may complete another volume
by the spring of next year. The way seems to be
opening for increased facilities in sending a botanical
collector to the Rocky Mountains. Our government is
about to establish a line of military outposts quite up
to the source of the Platte, in the principal pass of
the mountains ; and in a few years I doubt not we
shall have small colonies in Oregon ; but I know not
when we shall be able to send a collector. I would
like vastly to go after Grayia myself, but that cannot
be at present. Nuttall has been giving a course of
botanical lectures in Boston ; and still remains there,
I believe. My attempts to find Wilson's poem have
not yet been successful. I shall esteem it a piece of
good fortune if I succeed. I have engaged a friend
of mine, a bookseller, also to search for it ; and when
I visit Philadelphia I shall inquire of some old people
who knew Wilson. May God bless you, my dear
friend; kindest regards and affectionate sympathies
to Lady Hooker. Faithfully your attached

A. GRAY.

276 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1840,

TO ALPHONSE DE CANDOLLE.

NEW YORK, September 15, 1840.

MY DEAR FRIEND. ... I had not forgotten our
conversation on the subject of geographical botany.
On my return I found I had a copy, a mere proof, of
the little article I spoke of, and was about to offer it
to you, but on examination it appeared to me much
less important than I had supposed and perhaps led
you to expect. But as it may be of some little use, I
now beg you to accept it. I have added, here and
there, the scientific names when the popular names
only were mentioned.

The question you suggest as to the effect of the de-
struction of the forests on the climate is very inter-
esting, and I think still unanswered. I fear it will be
next to impossible to obtain data, even in this country,
for its satisfactory determination. There are very
few thermometrical observations on record of suffi-
cient extent or exactness, except for the last eight or
ten years. For a year or two I shall not be able to
pay any attention to these subjects except to collect
materials. But I am very desirous to afford you any
aid in my power, and will attend to any suggestions
you make, obtain any data which come in my way, or
secure the services of our botanical correspondents
scattered throughout our extended country. Pray tell
me how I can aid you. The annual reports of the
regents of the University of the State of New York
are documents submitted annually to our legislature,
and printed at their expense for public use. They
relate chiefly to the condition of our colleges and
higher schools, but for six or perhaps nine years past
have also embodied the results of the meteorological
observations made throughout the State under their

^.T. 29.] TO W. J. HOOKER. 277

instructions. The " Reports " are not on sale, and the
earlier numbers are not to be obtained except by some
lucky chance. . . .

The 3d and 4th parts of our " Flora," of which you
speak so favorably, were sent to you through Baron
Delessert, as I have already apprised you. By the
time this work is completed we shall have settled
somewhat accurately the geographical range of our
plants, and have laid a good foundation for the com-
parison of our flora with that of other regions, etc.
We shall soon begin to print the " Compositse," and
I trust in early spring we may see the second volume
nearly or quite completed. Pray send me sometimes
loose sheets of your articles or notices (those of your
father and yourself) in the " Bibliotheque Univer-
selle." I will sometimes translate them, if you do not
object, or otherwise notice them, for the " American
Journal of Science and Arts."

TO W. J. HOOKER.

NEW YORK, 15th January, 1841.

The dedication of the " Flora " we felt to be both
a privilege and a duty ; its favorable reception on your
part gives us real pleasure.

I hope I have not offended Link by overstating his
age. I am pretty sure I was so informed by Klotzsch
who ought to know. You will now and then see some
little articles or notices of mine in " Silliman's Jour-
nal." I prepare these notices merely to awaken and
deepen the interest of our scattered botanists and
lovers of plants, most of whom see that journal, and
few of whom have any other means of knowing what
is going on in the botanical world. We have, how-
ever, a few promising fellows who take the " Journal

278 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1841,

of Botany" or something of the kind. Should I
have anything to communicate of interest to any other
than our local botanists, I shall publish of course un-
der my own name. You will receive with this a little
notice of some European herbaria, which, common-
place as it must be on your side of the water, is useful
to our own people. I have been as brief as I could,
and have taken the pains to drop the first person sin-
gular. I am not sure but I have already sent you a
copy through Mr. Pamphlin. Poor Rafinesque,1 you
know, perhaps, is dead; and I have attempted the
somewhat ungracious task of giving some account of
his botanical writings, which I will send you when
printed.

I find that Townsend, Nuttall's companion, pub-
lished, while I was abroad, an account of their jour-
ney. I have never seen a copy, and am told it is out
of print ; but I must try to find a copy for you.
Townsend being poor, Nuttall waived his intention of
publishing in his favor. I have heard that Townsend
wishes to make a journey as collector of birds, plants,
etc. I wish he would go to the southern Rocky
Mountains, and trace them into New Spain. Nuttall
has brought home the Grayia. Have you ever received
any more of Nuttall's plants, or has Boott ? He is
selling them to different persons for ten dollars per
hundred ; just such specimens as you received through
Boott, or sometimes much better and more copious ones.
I have some of his Compositae in my hands, which Webb
has ordered. He has a considerable number of Oregon

1 S. Constantine Rafinesque-Schmaltz, d. 1840. A Sicilian by birth.
First arrived in the United States, 1802, for three years ; returned
in 1815, and explored the Alleghanies and Southern States. " An
eccentric but certainly gifted personage, connected with the natural
history of this country for the last thirty-five years " [A. G.].

MI 30.] TO W. J. HOOKER. 279

and Californian Composite which Douglas did not get
(and he failed to meet with many of Douglas's), and
others in the States ; as Pyrrocoma with rays. Nuttall
ought to send all these to you. ... I know with con-
siderable accuracy what plants (Compositae) are de-
siderata with you; and I will take the liberty of
writing at once to Nuttall, and asking for such in
your name. I shall ask for about one hundred Com*
positse, and will extend the order to other plants if
you desire it. He has, however, distributed nothing
beyond Compositae. Pray let me know at once if I
have done rightly in this. . . .

Among Drummond's Louisiana plants is the rarest
of all United States Compositae, Stokesia cyanea. It
was pointed out to me by Arnott (January, 1839), but
I have just examined Greene's specimens. A. G.

NEW YORK, 20th May, 1841.

I have diligently labored about four months at As-
ter, in which, as I have after all not satisfied myself,
I can scarcely hope to satisfy others ; but I do think
I have laid a foundation for the student of the species
in their wild state. We had very copious materials,
but could have done little in comparison without the
aid of your collection, for which we cannot be too
grateful. I am now occupied with Solidago, which is
difficult enough, no doubt, but not to be compared
with Aster in this respect, partly because there are
fewer species, and the synonymy much less involved,
but chiefly because there are few in cultivation.

We rejoice to hear that Joseph and the Antarctic
Expedition are getting on so well. . . .

No further tidings of the steamship President ! We
have not until now surrendered all hope. One of the

280 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1841,

passengers, a stranger to me, but an acquaintance of a
friend of mine, had charge of a small parcel for you,
consisting chiefly of proof sheets.

October 15, 1841.

I will send by the next London packet (Que-
bec) and write more at leisure. I have to-day sent
on board that ship a box for Parnphlin, containing a
parcel of plants for you (all of any consequence of
my small Carolina collection with some others). Few
as they are, I trust it will give me a pleasure I seldom
can enjoy — that of adding something to your her-
barium. Mr. Brydges takes also for you the proofs of
a gossiping article on the botany of the southern
Alleghanies, etc., which I have taken the liberty to
address to you, and hope it will meet your approval.
I shall send you clean copies, as soon as they are
printed. The article will not appear here until the 1st
of January. I send you also some ripe seeds of
Diphylleia for your garden. I have live roots in
the care of a cultivator. If they live shall send you
one in the spring. . . .

I must not forget to mention that my package also
comprises a set of Ohio Mosses from my friend Sulli-
vant, of whom I have often spoken, and of whom as a
botanist we have high hopes, as he has an independence
(for this country), talent, and much zeal. If not too.
much trouble, I join with him in requesting you to
name them according to the numbers, by which you
will do him great service, as he designs to study and
collect American Musci especially.

^ET. 31.] TO GEORGE ENGELMANN. 281

TO GEORGE ENGELMANN.

NEW YORK, November 30, 1841.

DEAR DOCTOR, — Don't hesitate about sending me
anything for fear I may already have it. Very many
plants pass through my hands while I am describing,
but my own herbarium is not very rich ; and dupli-
cates will not oppress me. Mr. Carey does not keep
European plants except those identical, or supposed
identical, with North American species. Browne,
however, does, and I dare say would be glad to have
any you can give him. They are the gentlemen men-
tioned in the " Flora." . . .

Eupatorium Engelmannianum, sp. nov. Am. Bor.,
semina misit Engelmann. Can this be it, think
you ? If so pray help me to it ; and to anything else
you can, as I mean to give addenda et corrigenda to
the Compositae at the end of the order, if I ever get
through this formidable job. No wonder seven years'
labor at them ruined De Candolle's health. You know
he is dead ? He died the 9th or 10th of September
last. . . .

I send you my article in the January number of
" Silliman's Journal " with a little one by Sullivant,

— by mail. I am extremely busy this winter, but I
hope always to answer your letters promptly, and to
attend to your desires as well as I can, whence I beg
you to continue your useful correspondence.

March 30, 1842.

It is not a great while since I got all the copy
ready for the number of the " Flora " now printing,

— during which I could do little else. Immediately
this was done I completed an arrangement with my
publishers for preparing a handsomely got up Intro-

282 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1842,

ductiou or Text-Book of Botany, for schools, lectures,
private students (medical, etc.}, which must be out
on the 1st of May next. Owing to illness I have as
yet written almost nothing, and besides have to super-
intend all the drawings, as they must be made by
a person unacquainted with botany ; and at the same
time I have to correct the proofs of about thirteen
sheets yet of the "Flora," so that I am almost dis-
tracted when I think how I am to accomplish it here,
where I have to see personally to almost every detail.
But I must do it, as I hope to lay the foundation for
a popular and — what is of consequence to me — a
profitable work.

TO W. J. HOOKER.

NEW YORK, 30th March, 1842.

The last steamship left Boston so soon after I re-
ceieved your kind letter that I was unable to answer
it by that conveyance. I intended to send this by the
Columbia steamer of the 2d prox. ; but I learn that
having broken her shaft in the outward voyage she
is to sail back to England ; when it comes to canvas
I have more confidence in our old liners, and there-
fore send by New York packet.

Have you not seen or heard of Nuttall yet ? • He
sailed for England on Christmas last, to take posses-
sion of property left him by some deceased relatives.

I should not feel a residence in Michigan as a ban-
ishment. I am fond of a country life. But at pres-
ent I see almost no hopes of usefulness there. Like
all our new, and some of our old States, they have
squandered the means they once possessed and encum-
bered themselves almost irretrievably with debt. On
my return from Europe in the autumn of 1839, I

JET. 31.] TO W. J. HOOKER. 283

received a letter stating that they had nothing yet for
me to do, and permitting me to spend the winter in
New York. In the spring of 1840, a committee of the
regents wrote to me, to relinquish the provisional
salary (of fifteen hundred dollars, on which I had
been placed) for one year from that date, they relin-
quishing my services for that period and allowing me
to devote my time to the " Flora," etc. I at once ac-
cepted their proposal ; but although another year has
now elapsed since the expiration of the period to
which they proposed to limit this agreement, not a
word have I heard officially or unofficially from Michi-
gan. I have quietly awaited the result, ready at any
moment to obey their call ; but having no income for
the last two years, I have been greatly embarrassed,
and have struggled through great difficulties, I
scarcely know how. Notwithstanding, I have thought
until recently that I ought not to seek any other situa-
tion. I shall now write to Michigan immediately,
inquiring whether, in their present condition, they are
ready to fulfill their engagements with me, or whether
they would prefer to accept my resignation, which I
shall offer. I expect, and on the whole hope, they
will accept it.

In December, or nearly the 1st of January last, a
friend of mine here, who had some casual conversa-
tion with the President of Harvard University, wished
me to let my name be known as a candidate for the
vacant chair of natural history there. After reflecting
for a week or two, I wrote to B. D. Greene 1 for some

1 Benjamin D. Greene, 1798-1862. First studied law ; then medi-
cine in Scotland and Paris. Devoted himself to botany. " His very
valuable herbarium and botanical library were bequeathed to the
Boston Natural History Society. He was always a most liberal and
wise patron of science " [A. G.].

284 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1842,

information on the subject, saying that, if freed from
other engagements, I would like the botanical part of
the professorship, but not the zoology : and that the
former, with the charge and the renovation of the
Botanic Garden, would be quite enough for one.

In January I made a flying visit to Boston, where I
had never been, and knew no one personally but
Greene, to whom, and to Professor Bigelow,1 I ex-
pressed my views ; but we none of us expected that
anything would be done at present. I incidentally
learned, however, not long since, that the men of sci-
ence would generally be well pleased to have me at
Boston, and that some with whom I had almost no
acquaintance were using their influence to that end.
I was never more surprised, however, than this very
evening, when I received from President Quincy an
official letter, offering me the professorship provi-
sionally, with a small salary, to be sure, for the present,
but with only the duties of the botanical portion.

The president states that the endowment is §30,000,
yielding an income of $1,500, which, however, not
being adequate to constitute a full professor's salary
on a permanent foundation, the corporation deem it
both their duty and the interest of the professorship
to continue for a few years, in a modified form, the
policy they have hitherto pursued, and by applying
one third of the income annually to the augmentation
of the capital, enable themselves to place the profes-
sor of natural history, at no distant period, on an
equal footing with the other professors of the univer-
sity. " To this end they propose to limit your duties,
in case you are willing to accept the professorship, to

1 Jacob Bigelow, M. D., 1787-1879; an eminent Boston physician;
author of the Florula Bostoniensis, 1814.

JET. 31.] TO W. J. HOOKER. 285

instruction and lecturing in botany, and to the super-
intendence generally of the Botanic Garden (which
they wish to renovate) ; limiting for the present your
annual salary to one thousand dollars ; " thus enabling
me, as the communication proceeds to say, to devote
all my time at present to my favorite pursuit, and to
go on with the labors I have in hand. I have reason
to hope, also, that by the time they are ready to give
me the full salary, the zoological part will be separated
from the professorship, with a distinct endowment.
The Botanic Garden has an endowment of $20,000.
If I should take this place, I should hope to see it
better endowed before long, and should immediately
set about the introduction of all the hardy trees and
shrubs, — and indeed to enrich it as fast as possible
with all the American and other plants that could be
procured. In that case, separated from yourself by
only fourteen to eighteen days' navigation, I could
hope to be a useful correspondent to you at Kew,
and to show my gratitude for your continued kindness
to me. I must here conclude, by stating that the
president's letter to me is to be deemed confidential,
in case I do not accept the offer. I must therefore
beg you to consider this letter likewise confidential,
until you hear further from me, which you may ex-
pect to do as soon as anything is settled in regard to
this matter. I am the less reluctant to leave New
York since our good friend Dr. Torrey is at Prince-
ton, New Jersey (only four hours from New York),
renting his house in town, where for the present
he will only remain during the winter. We have
worked so long together that I shall feel the separa-
tion greatly.

286 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1842,

NEW YORK, 30th May, 1842.

I have the pleasure to inform you that having ac-
cepted the offer from Harvard University of which I
apprised you in my letter of April 1, I was appointed
to the professorship on the 30th of April last. The in-
cessant occupation of this month has prevented me
from writing to you sooner, and still prevents me send-
ing anything beyond this hasty note. I hope in a week
or so to have my new text-book finished, when I shall
visit Cambridge to make the necessary arrangements
for my removal thither. I hope hereafter to be a use-
ful correspondent to you, in the way of supplying you
with seeds and living plants of our own country, and
when I see what can be done with our Garden I shall
probably ask you to aid us. I wish to visit the moun-
tains of Carolina again, in autumn, to procure roots
and seeds. . . .

In the spring of 1842, as his last letter intimated,
Dr. Gray was appointed to the Fisher professorship
of natural history in Harvard College. He was then
thirty-one years old. He removed to Cambridge in
July, taking lodgings near the colleges at Deacon
Munroe's, on what is now James Street.

Before Dr. Gray came to Cambridge he had been
elected into the American Academy (November 10,
1841). He threw himself with the greatest interest
into its work. Scarcely any winter storm kept him
from its meetings ; all other engagements had to give
way. And when new life began in its publications,
many of his most important papers appeared in its
volumes.

He was also influential in establishing a scientific
club consisting of members of the college faculty and

s

MT. 31.] TO JOHN TORREY. 287

other friends in Cambridge. Of this, too, he was a most
faithful member. The club met twice a month at the
houses of the different members in turn, and the one
at whose house it met was expected to bring forward
some subject, generally from his specialty, which later
was discussed and criticised. Many of the new inter-
ests in science were here first presented by Dr. Gray.
Among the founders and early members were,
Charles Beck, Francis Bowen, Admiral Davis, Epes
S. Dixwell, Edward Everett, President Felton, Asa
Gray, Simon Greenleaf, Thaddeus Mason Harris,
Joseph Lovering, Benjamin Peirce, Josiah Quincy,
Jared Sparks, Daniel Treadwell, James Walker, Jo-
seph E. Worcester, the lexicographer, and Morrill
Wyman, M. D. Later, among those no longer living,
were added at different times Louis Agassiz, Thomas
Hill, Joel Parker, Emory Washburn, and Joseph Win-
lock. The club is still in existence.

TO JOHN TORREY.

BOSTON, Monday, 25th July, 1842.

MY DEAR DOCTOE, — Having time before the mail
closes to write a hurried letter, I hasten to let you
know that I have this morning secured lodgings at
Cambridge, at a retired house, off the main road,
about halfway between the colleges and the Garden.
For $3.00 per week, I have two rooms, one pretty large,
one moderate (of which I shall make a bedroom), a
small nearly dark bedroom which I shall shelve and
use for my herbarium, and three closets, furnished
decently (but not extravagantly! !), in a house where
there can at most be only one other lodger, and he
must ascend by a different staircase from mine, — the
rooms and bed linen, etc., to be kept in order.

288 A DECADE OF WORK A T HOME. [1842,

I am to board at an adjacent house, to which I have
access by a private gate through the garden. The latter
house belongs to Mrs. Peck (widow of my predeces-
sor), who boards there, and who I see has bestirred
herself to contrive and effect this arrangement. I am
to take possession next Monday. Meanwhile I am
Mr. Greene's guest here, where I have the house for
the most part to myself. I arrived here Friday morn-
ing, just in time to miss the president, who had just
started for Portland, and has not yet returned. I
have seen Bigelow, Emerson,1 etc., and have been look-
ing about among the libraries here, and endeavoring
to arrange matters so as to procure just, and only such,
books for the college as are wanting. I am pleased
to find a complete copy of " Linnaea " at the library of
the American Academy.

I passed last Sunday all alone in Greene's house.
Mr. Emerson met me coming from Park Street
Church, and on telling him that I was of Orthodox
faith, he said he was very glad of it, although not
altogether of that way himself.

I have been only twice to Cambridge, whence I
have just returned, and where you may address your
letters. But I can do little there until the president
returns, by which time, however, I must trust to have
my list of books ready. I have just written to Mr.
Wiley to send on my boxes, and hope next week to
get nearly in working order. I now think of remain-
ing here (studying Compositse, etc.") through the month
of August, and then visiting Mt. Washington, if I can
get money and a companion (I shall ask Oakes), and
in September going (via New York ?) to western New

1 George B. Emerson, 1797-1881 ; an eminent teacher in Boston,
Mass. ; author of Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts.

MT. 31.] TO W. J. HOOKER. 289

York, where I wish to collect roots and seeds as ex-
tensively as may be. I will soon make out a list of
some things I would like Knieskern to get for me in
the pine barrens.

Tell E., also, that I must write her about a learned
lady in these parts, who assists her husband in his
school, and who hears the boys' recitations in Greek
and geometry at the ironing-board, while she is
smoothing their shirts and jackets ! reads German
authors while she is stirring her pudding, and has a
Hebrew book before her, when knitting [? netting —
A. G.]. There 's nothing like down East for learned
women. Why, even the factory-girls at Lowell edit
entirely a magazine, which an excellent judge told me
has many better-written articles than the " North
American Review." Some of them, having fitted their
brothers for college at home, come to Lowell to earn
money enough to send them through ! ! Vivent les
femmes. There will be no use for men in this region,
presently. Even my own occupation may soon be gone ;
for I am told that Mrs. Ripley (the learned lady afore-
said) is the best botanist of the country round. But
the mail is about to close; this nasty steel pen re-
fuses to write ; dinner is ready, and so with love to
all, I subscribe myself,

Yours most affectionately, A. GRAY.

TO W. J. HOOKER.

CAMBRIDGE, 30th July, 1842.

MY DEAR SIR WILLIAM, — It is indeed a long
time since I have heard from you ; although, indeed,
I can well suppose that, in your new situation,1 you are
too much occupied to write frequently to your friends

1 Director of Kew Gardens.

290

A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1842,

on this side of the ocean. Having finished my little
" Botanical Text-Book " (a copy of which is sent you
through the publishers, Wiley & Putnam, who have
an office in Stationer's Court, Paternoster Row), and
packed up my things at New York, I have just taken
possession of my situation at Cambridge. The Bo-
tanic Garden, which has a good location, contains
over seven acres of land, and the trees have well
grown up. It already contains some good American
plants, and I shall immediately commence a plan of
operations with the view of accumulating here, as fast
as possible, the pljaenogamous plants, etc., of the United
States and Canada ; and hope to supply you with such
of our indigenous species as you may desire. I wish
I could know what plants are likely to be acceptable
to you, that I may not send you what you already
have. I must postpone to next year my contemplated
visit to the mountains of Carolina, where I can make
a fine collection of interesting plants for cultivation.
Perhaps I can also visit Labrador next year. This
autumn I must confine myself to an excursion to the
White Mountains, to the western part of New York,
and to the pine barrens of New Jersey. I shall most
gladly share the seeds and roots I collect with you.
My good friend Mr. Sullivant, also, promises me the
living Sullivantia and many other interesting plants.

Let me also say, my dear sir, that any duplicates
you can spare us from your noble institutioil will be
truly acceptable and in the highest degree useful to
us, as we have very few exotics and hot-house plants.
We have a good gardener, and I think I can promise
you that whatever you choose to give us shall be
sedulously taken care of.

Dr. Torrey is now at Princeton. I had the pleas-

^T. 31.] TO GEORGE ENGELMANN. 291

ure of spending a week with him not long since, and
hope to visit him again early in the autumn. I shall
miss him very much. I am here more favorably situ-
ated with respect to books than at New York. I hope
next week to begin again with the " Flora," and per-
haps to finish the Monopetalae.

TO GEORGE ENGELMANN.

CAMBRIDGE, 26th July, 1842.

MY DEAR DOCTOR, — I hope to get settled here,
and in working order in a week or so ; to work at
Compositae all next month, and to occupy a part of
September and October in collecting the roots and
seeds of plants, of the White Mountains, of western
New York, etc., for our Botanic Garden here ; which
I wish to renovate, to make creditable to the country
and subservient to the advancement of our favorite
science. I wish to see growing here all the hardy
and half-hardy plants of the United States (as well
as many exotics, etc.), and shall exert myself stren-
uously for their introduction. The Garden contains
seven acres ; the trees and shrubs are well grown up ;
we are free from debt, and have a small fund. The
people and the corporation are anxious that we should
do something, and I trust will second our efforts.

Allow me therefore to say that yourself and your
friend Lindheimer1 in Texas would render me, and
also the cause of botany in this country, the greatest
aid (which I will take every opportunity of publicly
acknowledging), if you will send me roots or seeds of

1 Ferdinand Lindheimer, 1801-1879. Died at New Braunfels,
Texas. A German. " An assiduous and excellent collector and a keen
observer ; his notes, full and discriminating, add not a Httle to the
value of the collections " [A. G.].

292 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1842,

any Western plants, especially the rarer, and those
not yet figured or cultivated abroad. But nothing
peculiar to the West and South will come amiss. I
am calling on all my correspondents to assist me in
this matter ; which, by giving me the opportunity of
examining so many living plants, will vastly increase
the correctness of our " Flora." I shall not be idle
myself. I will defray all expenses of collection and
transportation (boxes may be sent via New Orleans,
directly to me at Boston). If you wish to cultivate
anything that I have or can procure, it shall be forth-
coming. Pray let me hear from you on this subject.

TO JOHN TORREY.

CAMBRIDGE, 15th September, 1842.

MY DEAR FRIEND, — Your letter of the 6th inst.
awaited my return from the White Mountains last
evening, and I must drop you a hasty reply by this
day's mail. I started for the mountains almost at a
moment's warning. Emerson, who was to accompany
me, being called down to Maine, wrote me unexpect-
edly to meet him on Monday or Tuesday of last week
at the Notch. I had just time to look up Tucker-
man,1 the very morning of his arrival ! and to get
his consent to meet me on Monday morning at the
cars for Dover. Monday evening we reached Con-
way, New Hampshire, thirty miles from the White
Mountains (full in sight) ; and Tuesday, in a one-
horse wagon, we reached and botanized up the Notch
to Crawford's at its head. Emerson had been there,
and returned to his father's in Maine, having learned
his brother's arrival from France in the ship that

1 Edward Tuckerman, 1817-1886 ; professor at Amherst. " The
most profound and trustworthy American lichenologist of the day "
[A. G.].

A;T. 31.] TO JOHN TORREY. 293

brought Tuckerman. We made two ascents to the
higher mountains ; slept out one night ; cold weather ;
a good deal of rain, but had some very fine weather
for views. We saw the ocean distinctly, which is
only possible under favorable circumstances. I made
a fine collection of living plants, which was the chief
object. Although too late for botanizing, yet I got
many good alpines in fruit, some few in flower.
When I see you, which I trust will be soon, I will tell
you particulars, and bring specimens of the few plants
collected that will be needed in your herbarium.

I have seen the president this morning, and find
that Mr. Lowell has returned, but all are so busy that
I doubt if they will settle anything about our affairs
until the last of next week. Consequently I shall be
kept here all next week. I shall immediately, at Mr.
Quincy's desire, or rather approval of my intimation,
draw up a plan of my wishes for the management of
the Garden, and shall ask for a specific appropriation,
of small amount, for obtaining live plants, paying
bills of transportation, etc. If I succeed, I may then
be able to engage Knieskern to procure some New
Jersey plants, as well as go to western New York
myself ; but I fear this delay, with the advancing sea-
son, will perhaps prevent the latter.

Saturday afternoon, 5th December, 1842.

The parcel of Composite, etc., of the Far West has
only just come in. I have looked over the Composite
with some excitement. Some few new and the old
help out Nuttall's scraps, etc., very well. Tetradymias
this side of the Rocky Mountains ! f Some new Sene-
cios, especially, from the mountains, near the snow
line. How I would like to botanize up there ! . . .

294 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1842,

I wish we had a collector to go with Fremont. It
is a great chance. If none are to be had, Lieutenant
F. must be indoctrinated, and taught to collect both
dried specimens and seeds. Tell him he shall be im-
mortalized by having the 999th Senecio called S.
Fremontii ; that 's poz., for he has at least two new
ones. . . .

I have the privilege of expending one hundred dol-
lars in botanical illustrations, — to be the property of
the college and to be increased from time to time.
How do you advise me to proceed in the matter ?

Though greatly behindhand, I must get Composite
all done this month. Then if you could have the Lo-
belias and Campanulas ready, I think we could print
the latter part of January, and I get everything off
my mind and ready for teaching 1st of March. . . .

This letter you see has no beginning, as I have
scribbled down memoranda for a day or two past, as
they occurred to me. I am deep among Thistles, which
are thorny (though I see that they are satisf actionable,
all but one little group of two or three species), and
have been considerably interrupted, or I should have
written you sooner.

TO MRS. TORREY.
CAMBRIDGE, Wednesday evening, December 14, 1842.

It is some time since I have written to Princeton,
and longer since I have heard from any of you ; for I
believe you are everyone in my debt. This, however,
has not restrained me from writing, and I have only
waited until a proposition very unexpectedly made me
a few days ago snould be disposed of. I have been
invited to lecture before the Lowell Institute next
year, and have had the hardihood to accept ! A cele-

JET. 32.] TO MRS. TORREY. 295

brated lawyer here says that he never hesitates to take
any case that offers, to be argued six months hence !
I have taken this in much the same way. But when
the time draws near I dare say I shall call myself a
very great fool. But it is now neck or nothing. The
money will be really very useful to me ; to decline
the offer, coming from one of the most influential of
the corporation of the college, would have had an
unfavorable effect on my prospects, which moderate
success will greatly advance. The pay is $1,000 for
twelve lectures, or $1,200 if they are repeated in the
afternoons. Instead of the latter, I have proposed to
give a collateral, more scientific course of about twenty
lectures, with a small ticket-fee to render the audi-
ence more select, and for which I should get about
$500, making $1,500 in all. The Institute will pay
for full illustrations. Mr. Lowell offered at oncejbo
engage me for two or three years ; but I told him he
had best wait to see how I succeeded. Mr. Lowell
told me that he was in treaty with two of the most
distinguished orthodox divines in this country for
courses on Natural Theology and the Evidences of
Christianity ; the one to commence next year, the other
the year after. I do not doubt one is President Way-
land. Who can the other be ? Tell Dr. Torrey he
hopes to get Faraday next year ; and Mr. Owen the
year after.

I shoidd not wonder if my appointment were in
some degree owing to a little piece of generosity in a
small way that I played off not long since. The pres-
ident has once or twice asked me to hear the Freshmen
next term in a course of recitations from a text-book
on general natural history as a matter of favor, as he
did not wish Mr. Harris or any one else to perform this

296 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1842,

duty ; and offering me, of course, additional compensa-
tion, I suppose $200 or so. I found, however, that this
pay would come from the funds of the Garden, let
who would perform the duty. So to prevent that, I
offered to perform the duty, but to receive no pay for
it. At the same time, however, I got the corporation
to appropriate $100 for illustrative botanical draw-
ings, which otherwise would have come out of my own
pocket. So you see I have work enough ahead, if I
live, to give me both occupation and anxiety. I have
been driving away at the " Flora," of late, very hard,
hoping to come to New York to print next month ;
when all this matter must be laid aside, and I must
prepare for my lectures, etc., for next term, which com-
mences about the first of March.

I am very tired, having been in Boston all day, —
at tea at Mr. Albro's, our good pastor, where I met
Mr. Dana, father of " Two Years before the Mast "
Dana, and passed the rest of the evening at Professor
Peirce's. 1 To-morrow I hope to have for study ; but
the next day I shall be obliged to go again to Boston,
and perhaps stay till evening for a soiree at Mr. Tick-
nor's.

The Latimer case has greatly increased the aboli-
tion feeling in this State, besides showing that the
recent decision of the Supreme Court will in fact
operate in favor of the runaway slave. It is not prob-
able that another slave will ever be again captured in
Massachusetts. There is a petition to Congress in
circulation, designed simply to express the feelings
of Massachusetts, which will probably be signed by
almost every person in the State.

1 Benjamin Peirce, 1809-1880 ; professor of mathematics, Harvard
University.

JET. 32.] TO GEORGE ENGELMANN. 297

TO JOHN TORREY.

CAMBRIDGE, January 3, 1843.

Your letter, truly welcome after so long an inter-
val, reached me yesterday. I should have been very
glad to be with you during the holidays, but cannot
think of leaving before I finish these interminable
Composite. I hoped to have accomplished this on
Saturday last ; all but taking up some dropped
stitches ; but was a good deal interrupted last week.
The December number of " Annals and Magazine of
Natural History " (of which Professor Balfour is the
botanical editor) contains a very complimentary no-
tice of the " Botanical Text-Book," accompanied with
a few judicious selections, which shows that the writer
has looked it over carefully ; and winds up by term-
ing it the best elementary treatise (as to structural
botany) in the English language. So easy is it to get
praise where it is not particularly deserved ! . . .

My great object for next year is to attempt to raise
$10,000 from some of our rich men, to rebuild our
greenhouse on a larger and handsome scale. There
are a few men, who have never given anything to the
college, who may perhaps be induced to give for this
object.

TO GEORGE ENGELMANN.

CAMBRIDGE, MASS., February 13, 1843.

I note with interest what you propose in regard to
Lindheimer's collections for sale in Centuria3, fall into
your plans, and will advertise in " Silliman's Journal "
(and in " London Journal of Botany ") when all is
arranged. Pray let him get roots and seeds for me. I
will do all I can for him. But if the Oregon bill
passes, a party under Lieutenant Fremont, or some

298 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1843,

one else, will go through the Rocky Mountains to
Oregon ; and parties of emigrants or explorers will
go also. Now why not send Lindheimer in some of
these ? Probably the government party would afford
him protection, and probably he might be formally
attached to the party. Fremont will not take Geyer ; 1
but I believe he wants some one. The interesting
region (the most so in the world) is the high Rocky
Mountains about the sources of the Platte, and thence
south. I will warrant ten dollars per hundred for
every decent specimen. If he collects in Texas, eight
dollars per hundred is enough. I write in haste, hop-
ing this plan may strike you favorably and be found
practicable. Let me know at once. The opportunity
should not be lost. Do send Lindheimer to the Rocky
Mountains if possible.

TO W. J. HOOKER.

CAMBRIDGE, February 28, 1843.

I found your most welcome letter on my return from
New York a few weeks since, and have since sent it to
Dr. Torrey, who was equally delighted with myself at
the opportunity of hearing from you.

Our term opens to-day, and I am just on the point
of commencing my course of botanical lectures, which is
rather formidable to a beginner. So you will excuse
my hasty letter. I would not miss to-morrow's steamer,
as I wish to say that your offer to furnish our Garden : —
the great object of my care — with hardy plants from
your rich stores at Kew delights me much. I have

1 Carl Geyer, 1809-1853 ; a German botanist who explored the basin
of the upper Mississippi with Nicollet under the Bureau of Topo-
graphical Engineers, 1836-1840. Afterwards crossed the Rocky
Mountains to Oregon.

^T. 32.] TO W. J. HOOKER. 299

only to say that everything you can send will be truly
welcome. Our stock of European hardy plants
(whether herbs or shrubs) is small, and consists of the
commonest and oldest-fashioned things in cultivation*
These, and every Californian, Oregon, and Texan plant
of which you have duplicates to spare us (or seeds),
whether hardy or not, — these are the plants I am
just now most desirous to accumulate. Greenhouse
plants are scarcely less welcome, but of those I will
write more particularly hereafter. Can you send us
a young Araucaria imbricata and Stuartia penta-
gyna?

My plans for accumulating American plants were
put in operation too late last autumn to give us much
as yet, but my correspondents throughout the country
seem interested in the matter ; some will reach me this
spring, and still more, I trust, in the autumn. With
regard to all these, as soon as I .see them growing, so
that I can send them with authentic names, I shall
most gladly share with you. ... I shall continue to
direct all my energies to the advancement of our
amiable science in this country, not, I trust, in vain. I
have a plan to publish, from time to time, figures
of rare or interesting North American plants, chiefly
those cultivated in our Garden and those upon which
I may throw some light. I think there are persons
enough here interested in the matter, including gen-
tlemen of public spirit here who would encourage it
for the Garden's sake, to nearly defray the expense,
which is all I desire or expect. . . .

What a charming place you must be making of
Kew ! What a field for the botanist !

300 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1843,

TO MRS. TOKREY.

Thursday evening, 2d March, 1843.

You will be anxious to hear how my first lecture
succeeded, knowing it was to have been given to-day.1
But you must wait a week longer. Since my last
letter was dispatched the president, finding the class
would hardly be ready, desired me merely to meet
them to-day for the purpose of pointing out the sub-
ject in the " Text-Book," arranging general plan and all
that, postponing my lecture to Thursday of next week.
This I was most ready to do, as it gave me the oppor-
tunity of entering by degrees upon my task, feeling
my way instead of making a plunge in regular desper-
ation. The great thing is self-possession. The mo-
ment I get that I shall feel tolerably safe. So I met
my class to-day, arranged matters, and made a few re-
marks without stammering a bit, so far as I recollect,
or speaking much too fast. My class consists of
about two dozen students (undergraduates), mostly
Seniors, besides which any law or divinity students
and resident graduates who choose can attend, and
several probably will. For my recitations in natural
history generally, I have divided the Freshmen into
four sections, about sixteen in each, two of which I
meet on Fridays, and two on Tuesdays ; have given
them their lessons, and to-morrow, consequently, I
commence these recitations. I must not forget to tell
you that since my return the Sunday-school class left
by one of our people who has removed to Boston has
been given me, a class of eight or nine very intelligent
misses, varying from sixteen years old to twelve, all of
one family, though originally of three, some being
sister's children (orphans, etc.). I am greatly pleased

1 Lecture to his class in college.

JET. 32.] TO MRS. TORREY. 301

with them, delighted with their docility and intelli-
gence, and anticipate a very happy time. So you see
I have three sets of scholars, on different subjects. I
ought to be " apt to teach."

Saturday morning. — I must dispatch my letter by
to-day's mail, and as I am going to Boston, where I
have not been for a week, I will drop it in the post
office there, to insure its transmission by this after-
noon's mail. Yesterday afternoon I met the first two
sections of my class of Freshmen for recitation. It
went off very well. I am pretty good at asking ques-
tions. The lads were well prepared. Next Tuesday
I meet the third and fourth sections ; and on Thurs-
day, the ides of March, I give my first lecture on
Botany. If I succeed well, I am sure no one will be
more pleased and gratified than yourself, and that of
itself is enough to incite me to effort. If I don't alto-
gether succeed, neither satisfying myself nor othefs, I
shall not be discouraged, but try again, as I am deter-
mined to succeed in the long run. Nil desperandum.
I shall have the president to hear me ; but he is said
always to fall asleep on such occasions, and to be very
commendatory when he awakes.

I now board with the sister of my landlord, Deacon
Munroe, a table of only five, one professor, one tutor,
and two advanced law students. We yesterday com-
menced the experiment of dining at five o'clock, much
to my gratification, and if the other gentlemen like it
as well as I do, we shall continue to dine at that hour,
until summer at least. It is very cold here ; though
the sun shines brightly all day, it scarcely thaws at
midday.

302 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1843,

CAMBRIDGE, March 18, 1843.

Your most welcome and long-expected letter of the
14th reached me only this noon. This first day of
leisure of this week has been a very busy one. I have
been to town, and just got back. I have had to work
very hard this week. I have got my course of recita-
tions for the Freshmen on Smellie well in progress,
and am quite interested in it, though at first I thought
it would have been a great bore. The class are gen-
erally very much interested, and give promise that I
shall reap the fruits of my labor when they become
Sophomores or Seniors and attend the botanical lec-
tures, for which I think I am laying a foundation. I
am now perfectly at ease in my mode of teaching
them ; I am pretty good at questioning, and I give
them plenty of illustration, explanation, and ideas not
in the book, which pleases arid interests them. In one
of the divisions last week, while giving them a sort
of lecture, two hours long! (to which they listened
well ; for I gave them, or those who chose, the oppor-
tunity of going at the expiration of the regular hour,
but not one of them budged), turning my head at a
fortunate moment, I caught one of the fellows (rather
a stupid fellow, a boarder with me last term) throw-
ing his cap to his companion or playing some trick.
You know I can scold. So I gave him about half a
dozen words that made him open his eyes wide ; and
I do not think that he, nor any of that division,
will venture upon anything of the kind again very
soon.

As to the botanical class, which now numbers
thirty - seven, I have given two more lectures, for I
lectured both Thursday and Friday, on the last occa-
sion, which was a sort of recapitulation quite without

^T. 32.] TO JOHN TORRE Y. 303

notes, as a trial. I am convinced that for lectures
with much illustration I must have only heads and
leading ideas written ; for others, I will write nearly in
full. I saw Miss Lowell . . . the day before my first
lecture, and promised to call upon her very soon if I
succeeded well. Meeting her the other evening at
Professor Sparks's, she reproved me for not keeping
my word. I very honestly and sincerely replied that
I had not succeeded well, and was waiting until I was
better satisfied. Quite to my surprise, I found that
the class, at least those she had seen, her great-nephew
and others, were well pleased with it. I will not re-
peat their expressions, as retailed to me by Miss
Lowell, because I cannot but suspect that young
Lowell may have been trying to humbug her. I feel
I have so far acquitted myself very poorly as a lec-
turer ; but I am sustained by the firm conviction that
I shall in the end do very well, for a common college
class.

TO JOHN TORREY.

May, 1843.

I have been speaking about the bones of the Zygo-
don, and there is a disposition to get up a subscription
in the Natural History Society and buy them, if still
for sale, the price not too great, and if Dr. Wyman,
on seeing them, recommends the purchase. Do you
know the price ? And whether they can still be seen
in New York, at Carey's storehouse ? The Boston
zoologists are far from praising De Kay's Report. I
heard Silliman on electro-magnetism the other even-
ing (which hardly belongs to chemistry) : great show
of experiments ; lauded Henry finely. He is finish-
ing off with galvanic deflagration. Will Fremont go

304 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1843,

west this year? So Mr. Carey is going to Buffalo.
Occupation will be the best thing for him ; but we
shall miss him in New York. . . .

Monday afternoon, 9th May.

I have a few of Fremont's plants up from seeds.
The two pine-trees and the Pyxidanthera were re-
ceived in good condition, to my great wonderment.
Pyxidanthera is in full bloom, and a drawing of it
nearly finished (as well as of Oakesia, about which I
have some new matters that are curious) by the
eldest Miss Quincy, whom I have pressed into the
service. . . .

Rhododendron Lapponicum, from the White Moun-
tains, is just bursting into flower. I am building rock-
work, but we get on slowly. All the work of the
Garden comes together this spring, and all in a heap.

TO W. J. HOOKER.

CAMBRIDGE, 30th May, 1843.

. . . The community here are very liberal and pub-
lic-spirited. They have just given by subscription
$25,000 for a telescope, etc., for our observatory.
The college have given me the use of seven or eight
acres of land lying around the observatory, finely situ-
ated and diagonally opposite the Botanic Garden, as
an addition.1

As soon as our garden begins to increase and pros-
per, I hope in a year from this we shall attempt (and
doubtless succeed) in raising the funds for a new con-
servatory, hot-house, etc.

1 Dr. Gray imported a quantity of small evergreens from England
and planted the ground extensively, adding- also many other kinds.

MT.32.] TO MRS. TORREY. 305

TO GEORGE ENGELMANJST.

CAMBRIDGE, 22d June, 1843.

When you get sufficient collections from any of
these botanists for distribution, you will please forward
me a set, with your own critical remarks. Although
I excessively dislike to study special collections far
ahead of my work, yet in these cases it will be impor-
tant, and I will consent to do it. If I thus join in
the responsibility and labor, which will be great to a
person with his hands so full as mine, the articles
written on the subject and the new species must bear
our joint names.

You cannot have failed to perceive that the genus
Astragalus is not well done in the " Flora." . . .

I agree with you generally in the impropriety of
too much multiplying names of species after the col-
lectors, etc., yet I think these are good names, easily
remembered, and particularly advisable in very large
genera. My practical rule is to name such species
after the discoverer, etc., if I cannot find any really
pertinent characteristic name unoccupied. . . .

There is much to be done, and so little time that I
often wish I could divide myself into a dozen men,
and thus get on faster. Let us, however, take partic-
ular pains to do everything thoroughly as far as we go.

TO MRS. TORRET.

CAMBRIDGE, July 22, 1843.

I find Cambridge, in vacation, as quiet as possible,
— most people away. The president's family were
at home, and unaffectedly glad to see me ; but several
of them, including Miss Susan, who makes drawings
for me, are about to set out on Monday for Lake
Champlain, Montreal, and Quebec ; to be absent

306 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1843,

nearly to the time that I hope to leave here again ;
for I find, from the way the president takes it up,
that I shall have no difficulty in obtaining the sanc-
tion of the corporation to my proposed mountain tour.
But of that I shall know certainly in a day or two.
In that case I shall hope to see you again in the latter
part of August, perhaps as soon as the middle. . . .

Dr. came here the day I returned. He still

garnishes, as ever, his lack of ideas with a deliber-
ate profundity of words.

I found on my return a letter from my brother,
announcing the approaching marriage of my youngest
sister ; which event took place, I suppose, on the 20th
inst., the day I left New York. Had I received the
letter in New York, I should have arranged to be
present on the occasion. I wonder if my turn will
ever come !

TO W. J. HOOKER.

CAMBRIDGE, llth August, 1843.

I leave home this afternoon for New York, on my
way to the Alleghany Mountains in the north of
Virginia, where I expect to meet my excellent friend
Mr. Sullivant, of Ohio. We hope to trace the more
westerly ranges of the mountains down to North
Carolina and Tennessee, to revisit my old ground in
Ashe County, etc., and to continue our journey farther
south into Georgia, coming out at Augusta on the
Savannah River ; thence I may go to Charleston and
return by water. But if time allows I shall perhaps
run through upper Georgia and Alabama, to the
Tennessee River, down that to the Ohio, and thence
home. My chief object is to obtain live plants and
seeds ; we shall be too late in the season for the best

JET. 32.] TO JOHN TOPREY. 307

botanizing, yet I think we shall be in the best time
for Composite. Mr. Sullivant will turn his attention
primarily to the Musci ; but we shall let nothing
escape. Thus at last I may hope to be somewhat use-
ful to you as a correspondent for your Garden.

I learn within a few days that Ross's expedition has
been heard of from Rio. Doubtless Joseph will have
reached home before this letter arrives, and I may
congratulate him — and yourself — upon his most
gratifying success, which has laid a broad and sure
foundation for his scientific eminence. His Flora
Antarctica must be of the very highest interest and
importance.

TO JOHN TORREY.
ASHEVILLE, Saturday, September 30th, 1843.

MY DEAR FRIEND, — Your two letters which
awaited my arrival — the one at Jefferson, the other at
Asheville — were indeed refreshing. Our long jour-
ney through Virginia brought us behind our estimated
time, and hurried the later and more interesting part
of our operations ; for Sullivant was getting very im-
patient, as I wrote in my last, just as we were hurry-
ing away from Jefferson.

I doubt if I got anything of much interest in
Virginia, except Buckley's (and NuttalTs) Andro-
meda, Rhamnus parvifolius on the waters of Green-
brier, (where did Pursh get it ?), Heuchera pubes-
cens in fruit and Heuchera hispida Pursh ! ! out of
flower and fruit, so that I detected it by the leaves
only (and got good roots), not far from where Pursh
discovered it, but more west, on the frontiers of a
range of mountains where this very local species
doubtless abounds.

308 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1843,

From Jefferson went to Grandfather ; had a fine
time and good weather ; explored the old fellow
thoroughly, but found no new Phaenogams. Sullivant
made a great haul of Mosses and JungermanniaB.
Found the Moodys heartily glad to see us. The elder
brother is married since our former visit. Miss
Nancy delighted with the calico dress I brought her,
and made me promise to ask some of my lady friends
at home to cut out a pattern for her in newspaper and
send by mail, — to be in tiptop style, — in the very
height of the fashion ! Poor Miss Nancy ! How she
would look ! The " old gentleman " (Mr. Carey) was
most affectionately inquired after. Indeed Miss
Nancy is perfectly in love with him, and sacredly
keeps the sperm-candle-end he gave her as a relic.
She gave me a most amusing account of the wonder-
ment which our visit caused. To it she attributes the
advantages they now enjoy both for religious and sec-
ular instruction. For we found a young Episcopal
clergyman, sent by the bishop, resident in the neigh-
borhood, where he has spent already almost a year, —
a perfect hermit, so far as civilized society goes. Yet
he is busily occupied, and nearly contented, has built
a little cabin in full view of the Gothic Grandfather,
and I hope is doing much good. He accompanied us
to the mountain, but did not remain over night in our
encampment, having a distant service on Saturday.
His name is Prout. Mrs. Torrey will remember
something about his history, which will in part ac-
count for his willingness to spend a few years in this
solitary region. I had hoped to hear him preach on
the Sunday we passed at the Moodys' on our return
from the mountain ; but he preached at a station ten
miles off. A. GRAY.

,ET. 32.] JOURNAL. 309

In one of his later mountain journeys Dr. Gray
passed again through Val Crucis in June, 1879 ; and
the following extract from Mrs. Gray's journal gives
the sad fate of the little mission colony.

" In the afternoon we came upon Yal Crucis. . . .
It seems, years ago (in 1841) when Dr. Gray, Mr.
John Carey, and others came exploring in the moun-
tains, Mr. Carey was laid up for a while in a farm-
house, and talking with the good people found them
woefully ignorant, especially of everything relating to
Christianity. So when he went back to New York
he corresponded with the Southern bishop, who be-
stirred himself, and a mission was sent into the moun-
tains. They settled at Val Crucis, and so named it.
It was in the early days of Ritualism, and the young-
men thought to found something like the early monas-
tic settlements in England, and, as it seemed to the
ignorant people, played strange pranks and preached
wonderful and incomprehensible doctrines which puz-
zled and bewildered them; then Bishop Ives went
over to the Catholic Church, and it all died out ; and
here is the church (the rude timber church), with
still a few members, but all the farms and settlements
passed into other hands — as far as I could make
out into the hands of a rich old man, who lives any-
thing but a holy life, and whose boarding-house for
the saw-mill hands in Val Crucis is an awful degrada-
tion! I saw at the Duggers a large old Bible, and
on it printed ' Society of the Holy Cro'ss, Val Crucis,'
which the children were using to paste stories and
pictures in ! "

The journal continues : —

Monday and Tuesday. — Crossed the Blue Ridge,

310 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1843,

descended John's River, and went to near the base of
Table Mountain. Wednesday, ascended it. Was
fortunate enough to get Hudsonia montana, specimens
and roots ; also a few roots of Thermopsis f raxinifolia.
While digging one of these near the base of the
mountain, struck upon a little clump of Schweinitzia,
half buried in the leaves, five or six specimens ; but a
long hunt furnished no more.

Thursday, crossed Linville River in sight of the
North Cove (Michaux's old residence) and went to
Carson's on the Catawba. We lost a shoe from our
black horse while descending the Blue Ridge, and he
wore his hoof so as to lame him severely. Obliged to
leave him at Carson's (as we could not exchange him
to advantage) and hire another horse to take his place
for a week. Crossed the Swananoa gap; got fine
near view of Black Mountain ; passed the night
not far from its base (twelve miles from Asheville).
Should have ascended, but could not do it so as to get
back Saturday night to any place to stay, and longed
to spend one Sunday in a civilized place where we
could attend public worship. So went on to Ashe-
ville to dinner ; passed Saturday afternoon in taking
care of our plants. Heard very good preaching at the
Methodist church on Sunday. Monday set out down
the French Broad. Tuesday reached the Warm
Springs ; got a luxurious bath. Rode the afternoon
through the rain to Paint Rock, etc. ; stayed the night
in Tennessee below. Got Buckleya in fruit, and other
things I can't now specify. Wednesday, dug up
Buckleyas, etc. Left Mr. Sullivant at Warm Springs,
who, not being able to bear the absence from his wife
and children longer, has left me alone with the team,
and is by this time more than halfway to Columbus.

.ET. 32.] JOURNAL. 311

Thursday, returned to Asheville. Friday, packed a
fine box of roots, with which my wagon was loaded.
Sent for my black horse. Saturday, bad weather ;
but made a little excursion on horseback, got roots of
Arum quinatum, which, by the way, often has the lat-
eral leaflets not at all incised, and then (in fruit) looks
just like A. Virginicum. Buckley is often inquired
after here, and seems to have been quite a favorite.
He might have enlivened his journal had he informed
us therein that he visited both Black and Bald Moun-
tains with a merry company of ladies, and camped out
on the summit ! But the sly fellow kept all this to
himself.

I begin to be in ajmrry ; but have yet much to do,
and find it rather lonely. Monday and Tuesday I in-
tend to devote to Hickory-Nut Gap, twenty-eight miles
and back. Then visit Black, if I meddle with this
mountain at all. Then, taking final leave of Asheville,
go into the mountains near the head of French Broad,
take up my quarters with a well-known hunter, try to
reach Pilot and other high mountains which Buckley
failed in reaching, and which have never been visited
by a botanist, unless by Rugel ; J thence to Table Rock,
South Carolina, and by a roundabout way to Franklin,
Macon County, Tolula Falls, and Clarksville, Georgia,
where I shall try to sell out my horses and wagon,
and take stage for Athens, where I am in the way to
come by steam all the way to Princeton, via Augusta
and Charleston, which bid fair to be healthy enough
to warrant my passing through them without rashness.

It will be the 20th October ere I can hope to take
you by the hand. Truly welcome are the newspapers

1 Dr. Rugel came to America, 1842 ; settled in eastern Tennessee
and collected in the southeastern States.

312 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1843,

you have kindly sent ; but I hope for more by the
next mail, for I have none later than the middle of
September.

I never have been so hurried, and had so little time
to write, but shall have the more to tell when I reach
you, if it please Providence. Excuse chirography also,
for pen and ink are wretched and my hands sore.

Aster Curtisii abounds and is very showy. A. El-
liottii takes here the place of A. puniceus. I have
found A. mirabilis.

Love to all, most warmly. Don't fail to mention
me to dear Herbert.

Monday morning. — Off for Hickory-Nut Gap,
where the scenery is said to be very grand, and the
botanizing good. I am to get there Asplenium pin-
natifidum, Stuartia pentagyna, and Parnassia asarifo-
lia. Hard work, yet pleasant with a companion. I
wish you could be with me.

Very pleasant Sunday service in the Presbyterian
church here.

TO GEORGE ENGELMANN.

CAMBRIDGE, November 4, 1843.

I have been absent in the mountains of Virginia and
Carolina — after live plants — from llth August to
yesterday ; which will be my excuse for not replying
to your letter of September 15th. I hope in the mean
time you have found some way to send the roots you
proposed. There are now connected express lines all
the way through. L. & P. Franciscus & Company, No.
90 North Main St., St. Louis, are the agents of Brown
& Company Express, Philadelphia; this connects
with Harnden's Express to Boston, the speediest and
cheapest method of sending when the package or box
is not large, and speed is desirable. . . .

JET." 33.] TO HIS FATHER. 313

Gaura Lindheimeri is a very fine plant, and flow-
ered fully three months in our Garden. I am hav-
ing a drawing — hoping to publish it sometime. I
want more seeds of CEnothera rhombipetala. Ours
flowered while I was away, and was killed by the frost,
so that I secured no drawing. Send me all the seeds
you can.

Inquire about the express to the East. We must
somehow have the means of a more speedy and regular
communication of parcels.

I found what I believe is your Lepidanche adpressa
at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. Also some others in
the mountains, which, with a few other plants, I
will send to you by express soon. . . .

You know I am obliged now to prepare for a ter-
rible course of public lectures, to commence in Feb-
ruary, so that I cannot work at the " Flora " until
spring. But I will find time to study and revise any
sets of Lindheimer's, Geyer's, and Liider's plants you
send. . . .

As to my paper on Ceratophyllaceae, I have long
since wished it unpublished, as it contains mistaken
views. So I do not care to distribute it.

February 2, 1844.

I have saved Gaura Lindheimeri by cuttings put in
pots last autumn. We shall have it in flower early
in the spring, and then shall exhibit it at the Horti-
cultural Society's rooms in Boston.

TO HIS FATHER.

CAMBRIDGE, November 18, 1843.

MY DEAR FATHER, — The return of my birthday
brings to mind, among other shortcomings, that I have

314 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1844,

neglected to write home since my return. I have
been very busy, of course, since the 3d of the
month, when I reached Cambridge, in answering the
heap of letters that had accumulated, and in other
business. And I have but just found time to com-
mence the preparation of my course of lectures before
the Lowell Institute, which is to commence on the
27th of February, and which will give me plenty of
labor and anxiety until they are over. . . .

I have laid in a good stock of health and strength
for the labors of the winter — which I am like to need,
for I have a great deal to do. Another year, if our
lives are spared, I trust you will make me a visit here.
I have just given notice that I shall wish to take pos-
session of the Botanic Garden house (now rented to
one of the professors) next autumn, where, if I can
get a room or two furnished, I shall have a place to
entertain you. Affectionate regards to mother and
all the family.

TO JOHN TORREY.

CAMBRIDGE, February 17.

My time of trial draws near. A week from Tues-
day I begin. There has been a pretty brisk applica-
tion for tickets. But I have yet very much to do.
My two last lectures are not even blocked out upon
paper. Many pictures are yet to be made, and I shall
have a busy time indeed until they are all delivered.
The end will be deliverance indeed. Yet strange as
it may seem, my spirits are rather on the rise ; though
I will not answer for them for ten days longer.

I have written an introductory which, with a few
more touches, I shall be satisfied with. And some of
my lectures which have least illustrations — such

.ET. 33.] TO JOHN TORREY. 315

as that on food and nutrition — are pretty carefully
written out. I have contrived a diagram illustrating
the cycle of relations of three kingdoms, which I think
is capital (as it is quite original), and which I long to
show you. If I had three months more, I am con-
vinced I could put my materials into the form of a
capital course of lectures.

Zuccarini wrote me a year ago — when he sent the
Japanese plants that we looked over together — that
the Japanese species utterly confounded the difference
between Rhododendron and Azalea ; decandrous species
having deciduous leaves, etc. If they must come to-
gether (and De Candolle seems doubtful) it would be
a pity you did not follow that plan, as you early
adopted it.

Then after all, in such case, are the Azaleas, as they
will ever be called in cultivation, to make the section
Azalea, or is A. procumbens to take that name ? . . .

I wish you could see my Lowell anatomical illustra-
tions. The pity is, that I shall hardly use them in this
course, now that my introductory lecture only brings
me down to them (but I shall have them spread to
look at), and I can only give to the subject about
twenty minutes of my second lecture.

But it is very late indeed. Adieu.

Yours cordially, A. GRAY.

March 1, 1844.

Well, you have heard what I had to say about my
introductory lecture. I was satisfied. I said plainly
what I intended to say and delivered it not very well
indeed, but well enough to satisfy me that I could do
well with practice. This evening I have made a second
trial, and a more trying one by far. I have a cold

316 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1844,

and am a little hoarse, which was a good thing, for as
to voice I filled the house. As I was full of illustra-
tions, quite as much as would cover the whole side of
a barn, I determined to try the experiment of lectur-
ing by the general guidance of my notes only (which
indeed were but partly written out). So with the
long pole in hand to point at the pictures I set at
work, and talked away for an hour and ten minutes.

I felt like a person who can hardly swim, thrown
into the river, fairly in for it, and had to kick and
strike to keep my head above water. The results are
these. I was by no means satisfied, and thought I
had made almost a failure. I left out many important
points, I repeated myself a little now and then, and,
— the usual result of extemporizing, — I did not get
through, but was obliged to break off in the midst of
the best of it. But, in spite of some difficulties of ex-
pression, and bad sentences, the whole was probably
more spirited in appearance than if I had followed
my notes. And the audience generally seemed more
moved by it than by the first.

I consider it thus far successful ; that under unfa-
vorable circumstances, for I had no time to look over
my notes beforehand, I made a desperate lunge, and
yet avoided a real failure. It will place me so much
at ease that I can hereafter, with or without notes,
look fairly at my audience without wincing. So I
shall do better hereafter. . . .

I send you my notes (on Vacciniums) as far as
written before I left for the South last summer ; and
with all Boott's memoranda as material. It would be
crazy for me now to attempt to make any memoranda,
or even to make the corrections that the new data
require. Conclusions formed in hurly-burly are good

JET. 33.] TO J. D. HOOKER. 317

for nothing ; and I cannot, and must not, think of
anything but my task. The two last of my lectures
are not even arranged yet.

TO J. D. HOOKER.

CAMBRIDGE, 1st March, 1844.

MY DEAR FRIEND, — I was very much gratified at
receiving your kind letter of January 16 ; and I was
quite startled at the lapse of time, I assure you, when
you reminded me that five years had elapsed since we
were running about the streets of London together.
Since that time you have seen the world, indeed, 'or
some very out-of-the-way parts of it; and you now
stand in a perfectly unrivaled position as a botanist,
as to advantages, etc., with the finest collections and
libraries of the world within your reach ; and if you
do not accomplish something worth the while, you
ought not to bear the name of Hooker.

I thank you most cordially for all the news you
kindly give me respecting the family, and wish to
return my best thanks for being remembered to one
and all. Your good old grandfather holds out so
well that really I sometimes think I may yet take him
again by the hand ; for I long to make another visit
to England. Perhaps I may in two or three years.
But I hope ere that to see you here, where you may
depend upon a most hearty reception ; and the
Greenes (who send remembrances) join me strenu-
ously in begging you will make us a visit. After Sir
William and Lady Hooker (seniores priores), whom
we cannot expect to see under present circumstances,
there is nobody in England I could so much wish to
see as yourself.

Had I time, I should fill this sheet with gossip

318 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1844,

about my occupations, plans, and prospects. Of these
hereafter, for I hope our correspondence will not end
here. But I am now exceedingly pressed for time,
having just commenced my course of public lectures
in Boston on physiological botany. Indeed I have
the second lecture to give this evening, and much
preparation yet to make for it. But I must tell you
that in August next I am to take possession of the
house which belongs to our little Botanic Garden, —
a quiet pleasant place, where I am to set up a bachelor
establishment, have room enough for my herbarium,
wnich I shall arrange a la Hooker, and a bed and
a plate for a friend. So, if you wish to take an au-
tumnal excursion, step on board the steamer and so
drop in upon me some morning, where you may de-
pend upon — in a humble way — as cordial a recep-
tion as I once received in Scotland.

Sullivant, who is a good, spirited fellow, is delighted
at the thought of receiving a set of your cryptogamic
collections. As to your generous proposal to send
another to some public collection in this country, we
will see. I will write something about it in due time.

TO JOHN TORREY.

CAMBRIDGE, 25th March, [1844].

I think I should be an unhappy, discontented, un-
thankful person not to be gratified with the success of
my lectures. But it is not likely to turn my head.
Everything proceeds quietly and soberly. I pur-
posely directed no tickets to be sent to a paper that
often reports lectures, as I did not wish it done. There
has not been a line in the papers about the matter,
except the very considerate notice about the beginning,
which I sent you. My last week's lectures are called

^T. 33.] TO JOHN TORREY. 319

much the best. The first, on the anatomy and physi-
ology of leaves, and exhalation and its consequences,
occupied an hour and twenty minutes. My last, on
food of plants, vegetable digestion, and the relations
of plants to mineral and animal kingdoms, — in which
I did my very best, and which required and secured
the most intense attention on the part of the audi-
ence for a hundred minutes, — was received with an
intelligent enthusiasm which did the audience credit.
For it would be mere affectation for me to pretend
not to know — as I well do — that it is one of the best
scientific lectures that have ever been delivered in
Boston. I have none left to compare with it. I have
only four more to give, during which I dare say the
interest will fall off; which will not disappoint or
mortify me. From your truly kind remarks and warn-
ings I suppose you look upon my success in this un-
dertaking as extremely hazardous to my best interests.
Now this duty came to me unsolicited and unexpected.
I accepted it because I thought it was my duty to do
so. Then I was of course bound to make every con-
sistent effort to insure success. While viewing it at
a distance, I felt much anxiety. But before I com-
menced, this entirely disappeared, and I have gone on
just as coolly as you might do with your chemical
course. I am thankful that (owing chiefly to the
nature and novelty of the subject) I have done my
work creditably. The little eclat which attends it,
I am not so foolish as to care anything for, pro or
con. It is entirely ephemeral. It may gratify my
friends ; but it does me no good, and I trust no harm.
The general result may benefit the science of this part
of the country. It will probably tend to advance
my interests, as I certainly wish it may, the object

320 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1844,

of my ambition being high and honorable, as well as
moderate. . . .

Though I feel that I often — always — fail to do
my whole duty, yet I do not feel, nor believe, that a
perfectly consistent Christian course would expose me
to persecution ; nor that obloquy is a test of Christian
character. These are to be borne like other evils,
when they are incurred in the course of one's duty ;
but surely they are not to be sought, nor viewed as a
test. Under the circumstances under which we are
placed, would our unexpectedly meeting with obloquy
be any test to us that we were doing right ? Would
it not lead us to suspect we had been at least unwise ?
Such men as Payson or Edwards, though they may
often have been pitied, I suspect, were never perse-
cuted. But, while I think you take a one-sided view
and assume an unscriptural test, in your own case, I
thank you most sincerely for your kind admonition to
me, and will try to profit by it. My sheet is fairly
fuU.

I need not say how delighted I should be to see you
here ; but you must not come till the spring has fairly
commenced, at least. The weather is excessively un-
pleasant, the roads almost impassable ; it snows every
three or four days, and not a speck of green is yet to
be seen. A month later it will be comfortable here.
I fear I shall not have a place to receive you before
autumn, as a hoiise is yet to be built for Dr. Walker.
But I should still like to have a visit from you in the
course of the summer.

Dr. Gray was always deeply interested in the reli-
gious thought of the day ; reticent in regard to his own
religious feelings and sensitive about any exhibition

^T. 33.] A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. 321

of them, he was ready at any time to discuss problems of
theology and ecclesiaticism. His temper was naturally
conservative, and he held by the habits of thought which
had been early formed ; but he was open to conviction,
and by the process of his own thought broke through
narrow bounds and rejoiced in all true progress in re-
ligion, both for himself and others. In the matter of
scriptural authority, for example, he was in accord
with Soame Jenyns, taking the ground quoted here :

" The Scriptures," says that writer, in his " Internal
Evidences of Christianity," " are not revelations from
God, but the history of them. The revelations them-
selves are derived from God, but the history of them is
the production of man. If the records of this revela-
tion are supposed to be the revelation itself, the least
defect discovered in them must be fatal to the whole.
What has led many to overlook this distinction is that
common phrase that the Scriptures are the Word of
God ; and in one sense they certainly are ; that isr
they are the sacred repository of all the revelations,
dispensations, promises, and precepts which God has
vouchsafed to communicate to mankind ; but by this
expression we are not to understand that every part of
this voluminous collection of historical, poetical, pro-
phetical, theological, and moral writing which we call
the Bible was dictated by the immediate influence of
Divine inspiration."

He held this ground strongly when the general view
of the Bible was narrower than of late years. As the
years went on he grew broader and sweeter, feeling
wider sympathy with all true, devout religious belief.

He was a constant church-goer, everywhere. When
traveling he always made Sunday a resting-day if
possible, and would go quietly off in the morning to

322 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1844,

find some place of service, in English if he could. He
enjoyed the Episcopal service, though early habit and
training had made him a Presbyterian ; but, as he
wrote in an early letter, " In fact I have no more
fondness for high Calvinistic theology than for Ger-
man neology. . . . But I have no penchant for mel-
ancholy, sober as I sometimes look, but turn always,
like the leaves, my face to the sun."

He was a teacher in Sunday-schools in New York
(the lady with whom he boarded has still a lively re-
membrance of his enthusiastic study of German that
he might teach his class of German boys better), and
also in his early years of Cambridge life, until the
heavy load of work he was carrying made the Sunday
more imperative as a day of rest. It was his rule to
rest on Sunday. Rest for him was change of intellec-
tual occupation, and he read all of the day he was not
out at church ; more especially on the philosophical
questions, whether general or scientific, which next to
botany were his chief interest. Books on these sub-
jects were the few he bought outside of works on bot-
any ; as he said, he could only afford botanical books
and had no money or room for general literature. He
read the leading magazines, and occasionally biogra-
phies and travels, and if he had friends staying with
him, Sunday was the day for talk and discussion.
A friend writes such a lively reminiscence of one of
these Sunday discussions, on a stormy winter day
which shut all in the house, that it seems worth giving
as a vivid description of him.

" Dr. Gray is more associated with the study and
the room next it, but I recall him there (in the par-
lor) also, especially in the visit of which you wrote,
made when Mr. John Carey was with you. He and

JET. 33.] A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. 323

the doctor held one Sunday a long discussion on the
Ten Commandments as binding upon Christians. Mr.
Carey argued that their only claim upon our obedience
consisted in their having been re-ordained (indorsed
as it were) by the church, — whether that meant the
Holy Catholic or simply the Anglican Church was
not decided, as I remember. Dr. Gray combated this
extreme church view warmly and cleverly. Both were
pugnacious amiably, as in their botanical fights. Both
were excited, and the doctor showed his excitement
in his characteristically self-forgetful way, by moving
or jumping nervously about the room, sitting on
the floor, lying down flat, but laughing and sending
sparks out of his eyes, and plying his arguments and
making his witty thrusts all the while. I enjoyed it
very much, scarcely observing the odd positions any
more than the doctor did. I had seen him so conduct
himself before."

It may be added to this that Dr. Gray was notice-
able throughout his life for his alertness. In the street
he was usually on a half run, for he never allowed
himself quite time enough to reach his destination
leisurely. When traveling by coach and climbing a
hill he would sometimes alarm his fellow-travellers by
suddenly disappearing through a window in his eager-
ness to secure some plant he had spied ; his haste would
not suffer him to open a door. As his motions were
quick, so that he seemed always ready for a spring,
so he found instant relaxation by throwing himself
flat on the floor when tired, to rest, like a child.

His physical characteristics expressed something of
his mental qualities. He was quick and impetuous in
temper, but his excitement was short-lived, and his
prevailing spirit was one of apparently inexhaustible

324 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1844,

good-nature. He was the cheeriest of household com-
panions ; rarely was he depressed, only indeed when
greatly fagged with some tremendous pressure of work
or some worrying trouble difficult to settle; he was
exceedingly hopeful, and always carried with him a
happy assurance that everything was going on well in
his absence ; withal, he was fearless in all adventure,
never willing to allow there had been any danger
when it had passed ! He was fond of arguing, but
no partisan, so that however earnest and dogmatic
he might seem, the moment the discussion was over
there was no trace of bitterness or vexation left. He
was a clear and close reasoiier himself, and thus im-
patient of defective reasoning or a confused statement
in others. He was quick, too, in turning his opponents'
weapons against them ; sometimes he would escape
from a dilemma in a merry, plausible form, but in
serious argument he always insisted upon downright
sincerity.

TO W. J. HOOKER.

April 1, 1844.

I finish my course of Lowell lectures this week,
which have succeeded beyond my most sanguine ex-
pectations. I have restricted myself to physiological
botany only, — taken up only great leading views, -
used very large paintings for illustrations, six to eight
feet high, which the great size of the room required,
and then have given to sound scientific views a gen-
eral popular interest.

TO JOHN TORBEY.

CAMBRIDGE, May 24, 1844.

I have been using Dr. Wyman's microscope of
late, and it works well. By the way, I have been

*:T. 33.] TO JOHN TORREY. 325

studying fertilization a little, and have got out pollen-
tubes of great length ; have followed them down the
style, have seen them in the cavity of the ovary, and
close to the orifice of the ovule.

My first views were in Asarum Canadense and A.
arifolium, where I can very well see the pollen-tubes
with even my three-line doublet ! I have seen them
finely in Menyanthes ; and in the ovary in Chelidonium !

I am lecturing l in a popular and general way en-
tirely on physiological botany, and offering no encour-
agement to any to pursue systematic botany this year.
My great point is to make physiological botany ap-
pear as it should be, — the principal branch in general
education. Next year I hope to take up the other
branch.

I am using the Lowell illustrations (though too
large for my room), and am having no additional ones
made for the college. For simple things I depend
much upon the blackboard. I have given two lectures
on the longevity of trees, and have a third yet to give,
or at least half of another. . . .

The plants from the mountains have some done well,
others poorly. Buckleyas had a hard time, of it.
Many are dead ; none I think will flower this season,
as they only put out from the root. Diphylleia, Saxi-
fraga Careyana, a new one like it, also S. erosa, etc.,
are now in flower. Astilbe is in bud, also Vaccinium
ursimim. One Carex Fraseri flowered. Hamiltonia
only starts from the root.

In 1844, finding he needed more room for his rap-
idly increasing herbarium, Dr. Gray applied for the
use of the Botanic Garden house, which since the death

1 To his college class.

326 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1844,

of Dr. Peck had been occupied for a while as a board-
ing-house, and later by Dr. and Mrs. Walker. He
moved into it in September, and there remained until
the end of his life. He had a great attachment for
the house, as the only one in which he had resided for
any length of time ; and it saw the gradual growth of
his herbarium, needing before many years the addition
of a wing to give more room, until, having overrun
all possible places for its accommodation, it was re-
moved in 1864 into the fireproof building which now
holds it.

The garden was laid out by Dr. Peck in 1808, and
the house built for him was finished in 1810. Mr.
Nuttall, the botanist and ornithologist, who boarded
in it while giving instruction in botany, left some curi-
ous traces behind him. He was very shy of intercourse
with his fellows, and having for his study the south-
east room, and the one above for his bedroom, put in
a trap-door in the floor of an upper connecting closet,
and so by a ladder could pass between his rooms with-
out the chance of being met in the passage or on the
stairs. A flap hinged and buttoned in the door be-
tween the lower closet and the kitchen allowed his
meals to be set in on a tray without the chance of his
being seen. A window he cut down into an outer
door, and with a small gate in the board fence sur-
rounding the garden, of which he alone had the key,
he could pass in and out safe from encountering any
human being.

The garden, though small, was planned with much
skill, and when Dr. Gray first lived on the place was
much more filled up in the centre with trees and
shrubs, so that since one was unable to see from one
path to another, it seemed much larger than when

JET. 33.] TO JOHN TORREY. 327

more open. Dr. Peck, who had visited Europe and
learned much of botanical gardens there, when com-
plimented on his success in laying it out, said that " he
felt he had been at work on a pocket-handkerchief ! "
Dr. Gray, as his letters show, fell earnestly at work to
restock the garden, and from his various journeys, his
correspondents, and the many seeds and roots which
were coming in from the Western explorations soon
made it a valuable spot for exchange. It is interesting
to note how many plants, now the common stock of all
gardens, were first grown and flowered here. One
bed for many years always went by the familiar name
of " Texas," as being the place where the new Texan
seeds were grown. The fund for endowment was very
small, and added greatly to the care of its oversight,
because of the effort to keep within the income. For
two years after Dr. Gray was living in the Garden
house, he gave up two bed-rooms to the greenhouse
plants, and so saved the Garden the expense of fuel for
that period! One of his first deeds was to abolish the
fee and make admission to the Garden free. It was
the first — and remained for more than sixty years
the only — public botanic garden in the country.

TO JOHN TORREY.

Tuesday evening, October 1, 1844.

I am about half fixed at the Garden, and shall prob-
ably sleep there to-morrow night. Were it not that
my woman-kind has disappointed me, we should dine
there to-morrow. . . .

Dr. Wyman l wishes much to accompany Fremont if
he goes on another journey, entirely at his own expense,
if need be. As his object is entirely zoology, he will

1 Dr. Jeffries Wyman.

328 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1845,

not interfere with Fremont's botanical plans, while the
results would redound to Fremont's advantage. He is
a most amiable, quiet, and truly gentlemanly fellow,
retiring to a fault, but full of nerve, and surely is to
be the great man of this country in the highest
branches of zoology and comparative anatomy. I
therefore very strenuously solicit your influence at
court in his behalf.

I am glad that Fremont takes so much personal in-
terest in his botanical collections. He will do all the
more. I should like to see his plants, especially the
Composite and Rosacese. As to Conifera3 he should
have the Taxodium sempervirens, so imperfectly
known, and probably a new genus. Look quick at it,
for it is probably in Coulter's collection which Harvey
is working at. ... Cordially yours,

A. GRAY.

February 12, 1845.

My first lecture is to-day finished, and has this
evening been read to Mr. Albro.1 Half of it is de-
voted to a serving up of " Vestiges of Creation " (which
Boott says is written by Sir Richard Vivian), show-
ing that the objectionable conclusions rest upon
gratuitous and unwarranted inferences from estab-
lished or probable facts. Peirce is examining Mul-
der,2 that we may fairly get at his point of view. His
conclusions as to equivocal generation are non-constat
from his own premises. On the whole series of sub-
jects Peirce — who is much pleased with the way I

1 This was Dr. Gray's second course of Lowell lectures. Dr. John
A. Albro, the Congregationalist minister of Cambridge, was his pas-
tor.

'2 G. J. Mulder, 1802-1880; professor of chemistry in the University
of Utrecht. Wrote on Animal and Vegetable Physiology.

^T. 34.] TO JOHN TORREY. 329

have put the case in my introductory — and myself
think of concocting a joint article, though my time
will prevent me from working out some of the subsidi-
ary points just now.

I assure you I am quite well and hearty, just in
capital working mood. As to the lectures, I must
work hard all the way through, but do not feel any
misgivings. My house is hot enough, I assure you ;
no trouble on that score. As to spontaneous genera-
tion, the experiment of Schultz l is nearly or quite a
test, and goes against it. Love to all.

Ever yours, A. GRAY.

The next letter contains the first allusion to Isaac
Sprague, so long associated with Dr. Gray as illustra-
tor of his works. Isaac Sprague was born in Hing-
ham in 1811. He early showed a faculty for observa-
tion, and a gift for painting birds and flowers from
nature. His talent was discovered, and he was invited
by Audubon in 1843 to join his expedition to Mis-
souri, and to assist in making drawings and sketches.
President, then Professor, Felton, having met him in
Hingham, and knowing Dr. Gray was looking for
some one for his scientific drawings, recommended
Mr. Sprague, and he began with the illustrations for
the Lowell lectures and the new edition of the " Bo-
tanical Text-Book." Dr. Gray was delighted with his
gift for beauty, his accuracy, his quick appreciation
of structure and his skill in making dissections. Mr.
Sprague was from that time the chief, and mostly
only, illustrator for his books, both educational and
purely scientific.

1 Carl H. Schultz-Schultzenstein, 1798-1871 ; professor of physi-
ology in the University of Berlin. Wrote voluminously upon Cyclosis
and the Vessels of the Latex, etc.

330 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1845,

Dr. Gray is said to have stated that Mr. Sprague
had but one rival, — Riocreux ; and he considered
that draughtsman's classical drawings inferior to Mr.
Sprague's.

TO JOHN TORREY.

CAMBRIDGE, March 8, [1845 ?]

... I finish Lichens this afternoon ; and have
next two lectures on Fungi and spontaneous genera-
tion to give. I interweave a good deal of matter,
such as, on Ferns, the part they played in the early
times of the world, a la Brongniart. Mosses, filling
up lakes and pools ; Sphagnum, Peat. Lichens, first
agents in clothing rocks with soil. I have noble illus-
trations of rust in wheat, ergot, etc., and Sprague is
now hard at work on smut, a la Bauer.

You remember the letter I sent you from Prestele of
" Ebenezer, near Buffalo," and which you still hold.
Well, he has sent me for inspection a most superb set
of drawings, both of cultivated and of some native
plants, exceedingly well done. Also specimens of his
work in cutting on stone, which he does admirably.
He did the work in BischofFs " Terminology," which
perhaps you remember, two quarto volumes. What a
pity he did not have the State-Flora plates to execute !

If Dr. Beck and yourself go on with your plan, he
is your man to engrave the plates on stone. Our Illi-
cium is now in full flower ; but I cannot spare Sprague
a moment to draw it yet ; unless, indeed, it is quite
certain you will want it this year, when I would try.
He must work hard for me two weeks longer. . . .

My cutting up of " Vestiges of Creation " was a
fine blow, and told. Peirce, who you know was rather
inclined to favor Rogers a while ago, is now sound

arc. 34.] TO JOHN TORRE Y. 331

and strong. We think of sending a critical analysis
of the first part of Mulder, as our joint work (if he
finds time to put in form the physiological deductions
I give him), to the meeting of geologists and natural-
ists at New Haven next month.

Mulder is very ingenious ; but we can blow up the
whole line of his arguments, and show that it all
amounts to nothing ; that he has not in this advanced
our knowledge a particle ; and that his generalizations
are unsound. Why did you not have a part of my
article reprinted in New York ? That would be the
best reply to all his stuff.

The printing of my book will be through next week.

March 30.

I am now half through, and have got almost done
with Fungi. The audience take so much to the
" Cryptogamic matters," especially the afternoon audi-
ence, which is as a whole the most intelligent and re-
fined, that I let them run on, and they will occupy the
whole course, except three lectures. I gave one lec-
ture, generally thought nearly the best, on the large
Fungi, mushrooms, truffles, morels, puff-balls, with
some good general matters. To-day I have taken the
small ones, moulds, mildews, rust, and smut in wheat,
with superb illustrations. Ergot is still left over,
along with the diseases in potatoes, the plant of
fermentation, the Botrytis that kills silk-worms, with
some recapitulatory matters on spontaneous generation,
which must be cooked up for Friday. Then comes
Alga3 ; the large proper ones (Lecture 8), of which a
fine series of illustrations is now nearly done.

Lecture 9. Then the low, minute forms and Con-
fervae come, and gory dew, red snow, superbly illus-

332 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1845,

trated, ending with diatoms, transitions to corallines
through sponge, etc., and the locomotive spores of
Confervse, Zoosporeae.

Lecture 10. Whole subject of spontaneous move-
ments and sensibility in flowering plants, the life of
plants, etc. (treated in a somewhat original way), and
the real differences between plants and animals.

Lecture 11. The principles of classification. Indi-
viduals, species, their permanence, genera, orders, etc.

Lecture 12. Historical development. The Linnsean
system, the natural. This ends so as to give me a
fine place to begin at next year. . . .

I shall soon be able to spare Sprague to draw the
Illicium, if it still holds on. But I cannot spare him
just yet. He has still to copy the red-snow bank
from Ross, eighteen feet long ! — finish two pieces of
etc., etc.

TO A. DE CANDOLLE.

April 5, 1845.

I anxiously wait for the notices of the life and
writings of your lamented father, which you so kindly
offer. I agree with you that that of Daubeny l gives
the best view of the philosophy of his science ; and
yet there are points of view that he has not touched
upon. You, of course, know better than any one else
what were your father's philosophical views in
natural history, his modes of thinking and working ;
and if, when you send me the above-mentioned docu-
ments, you would also feel at liberty to place such
confidence in me as to give me your own views and
suggestions upon the subject, and especially upon the

1 Dr. Charles Daubeny, G. B., 1795-1867 ; professor of botany and
rural economy at Oxford ; chemist and geologist.

*rr. 34.] TO JOHN TORRE Y. 333

points that other writers appear to have overlooked,
I should be able to produce, in the " North American
Review," a much more important article and a
worthier tribute to the memory of one so revered on
this side of the Atlantic as well as in Europe. May
I hope you will favor me in this respect ?

Many thanks for the botanical news. I long to be
delivered from the pressure of the engagements that
have consumed so much of my time for the last year
or two, and finish the " Flora of North America."

I remain, ever, my dear friend, faithfully yours,

A. GRAY.

TO JOHN TORREY.

August, 1845.

The new post-office law is an excellent thing, as it
enables us to exchange our missives frequently, to
send little pieces of news, and ask and answer ques-
tions without waiting for time and matter to fill up a
formal letter.

I must tell you a little change made in my sanctum
here. You are to imagine me writing at a sort of
bureau-escritoire (standing under Robert Brown's pic-
ture), which I fortunately picked up the other day for
$10. It is of old dark *wood a century old, and con-
tains below four drawers, while the upper part, which
opens into a fine writing-table, has eight pigeon-holes,
six drawers, and a little special lock-up with several
drawers and pigeon-holes more. You know I like
any quantity of these stowaway places. I have sent
upstairs the table which stood in its place, and brought
down the round one, so that I have more room than
before.

334 A DECADE OF WORK A T HOME. [1845,

TO W. J. HOOKER.

October 14, 1845.

Your excellent father lived to a truly patriar-
chal age. Mine, who has been in failing health for
some time, I learn to-day is suddenly and extremely
sick, and I set out for my birthplace immediately, in
hopes yet to see him once more.

His father died October 13, before he reached
Sauquoit. He had made his son a visit in Cambridge
after he was established at the Garden house, more
especially to consult a physician for his failing health.

TO JOHN TORRE Y.

CAMBRIDGE, November 15, 1845.

My visit to Oakes 1 was chiefly to this intent. You
know, that I have been waiting and waiting for Oakes
to give, not his New England " Flora " (which I fear
he will always leave unfinished), but a prodromus of
it, for my use and for New England. The conse-
quence of waiting is that Wood 2 is just taking the
market, against my " Botanical Text-Book," mostly by
means of his " Flora." Letters from Hitchcock —
and elsewhere — all point to the probability that they
will have to use his book (of which, by the way, he
is preparing a second edition, which he cannot but
improve), and ask me to prevent it, by appending a
brief description of New England or Northern plants
to my " Botanical Text-Book." A plan has occurred to
me by which this might be done, were it not that I
will not tread on the heels of anything that Oakes

1 William Oakes, 1799-1848. " The most thorough and complete
collector and investigator of New England plants " [A. G.].

2 Alphonso Wood, 1810-1881 ; author of popular botanical text-
books.

MT. 35.] TO JOHN TORREY. 335

(who has devoted a life of labor to this end) will
actually do.

As something must be done at once, I have pro-
posed to Oakes to make myself the necessary con-
spectuses of orders, analyses, etc. ; to join the pro-
posed thing on, or to dove-tail it into, the " Text-
Book ; " and also to furnish the generic characters,
and he is to write the specific characters and all that
for New England plants. I give him as limit 250
pages brevier type, 12mo (say 300), and insist upon
having the greater part of the copy on the 1st March,
and that it shall be published on the 1st April. That
I may cover the ground of Wood, and introduce it
into New York, I propose, if you think it right and
proper, to add the characters of the (about 150) New
York plants not found in New England, distinguish-
ing that by a f.

Oakes promises to do it. But our understanding is
explicit that if he cannot get through with it in time,
he is soon to let me know, and to furnish me with
New England matters, when I am to do, not exactly
this, but a more compendious manual of the botany
of New England, New York, New Jersey, and Penn-
sylvania, that is, the Northern States proper. It will
be imperfect and hasty, but it will prevent Wood
from fixing himself so that he cannot be driven out.

I propose to have a sufficient number of copies of
this (in whatever form it may appear) bound up with
the " Botanical Text-Book " to meet the demands of
the one-book system in New England and New York,
and to afford it at a price reduced to a minimum, so
that nothing is to be made out of it, at least out of
the first edition.

How does this all strike you ? I am convinced that

336 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1845,

something must be done, and I will see if we can't
have a very popular, and at the same time a pretty
good book.

George 1 sends his warm regards.

21st November, 1845.

I have driven Cakes so absolutely into a corner
that I think he will work for once. The man's prepa-
rations and materials are enormous ! and for his sake
I hope he will. If he does not, I shall know in time,
— that is, as soon as I can use the knowledge, — and
then the plan may take such form as may be deemed
best. I should then wish to make it more absolutely a
supplement of " Botanical Text-Book ; " but only for
the proper North. In the way in which it would then
be done, with Persoonish 2 compactness and brevity,
I doubt if you would care to engage in it. As soon
as we can get out the proper Botany of the United
States, I should wish it to supersede this to a great
extent. In my hands, I would sell it so cheaply as to
make very little, except as it promotes the sale of the
" Botanical Text-Book." I would sell the " Text-Book "
with it for $2, or legs even. The great object is to
keep the ground clear by running an uncompromising
opposition against the threatening interlopers.

My lectures are to commence January 13th.

TO J. D. HOOKER.

CAMBRIDGE, 31st December, 1845.

I was much pleased to receive your pleasant letter
of the 29th October last, and I read with interest the
account of the debate on the occasion of the election

1 His brother, then living- with him in Cambridge to enter Harvard.

2 Christian Hendrik Persoon, 1755-1838 ; a botanist at the Cape
of Good Hope. Died in Paris at a very advanced age. Fungologist.

JET. 35.] TO J. D. HOOKER. 337

by the Edinburgh Town Council. Such defeats can
do you no harm. I suppose you are now going on
with the " Flora Antarctica." I need not say that I
should be very glad to see the Antarctic plants of the
Wilkes Expedition in your hands. The botanist who
accompanied the expedition is no doubt perfectly in-
competent to the task, so greatly so that probably he
has but a remote idea how incompetent he is. I have
not seen him nor the plants. Certainly I would not
touch them (any but the Oregon and Californian) if
they were offered to me, which they are not likely to
be. I consider myself totally incompetent to do such
a work without making it a special study for some
years, and going abroad to study the collections ac-
cumulated in Europe. Of course if they are worked
up at all in this country, they will be done disgrace-
fully. I publicly expressed my opinion on the sub-
ject in " Silliman's Journal." But I have long been
convinced that nothing can be done. The whole busi-
ness has been in the hands till now of Senator ,

the most obstinate, wrong-headed, narrow-minded, im-
practicable ignoramus that could well be found. . . .
If to this you add an utter ignorance of those prin-
ciples of comity and the spirit of interchange that
prevail among naturalists, and a total want of com-
prehension of what is to be done in the scientific
works in question, and you will see that nothing is to
be expected from such sources. They have thrown
every obstacle they could in the way of their natu-
ralists,— Dana and Pickering, for instance, — so much
so that Pickering, though a patient man, once threw
up his position in disgust, I have heard, but, by some
concessions made to him, was finally persuaded to
retain it.

338 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1845,

Some of the scientific reports will soon be published,
Dana on the Corals, etc., which will, I suppose, be very
creditable to him. When any of the volumes appear
I am somewhat inclined to call public attention to
some of this gross mismanagement and incompetency
in these wrong-headed managers, in a review. I
thank you very much for all the botanical news you
give, and hope you will still favor me now and then
with other such epistles.

I have never worked so hard as for the last four
years, nor accomplished so much. Still it will not
show for much in your eyes, and I receive many an
exhortation like yours to go on with the " Flora."
But a world of work that could only be done by my-
self, the pressure of the duties of my new position, and
the necessity of taking, indeed of creating, and main-
taining a stand that should make my department felt
and appreciated, has indeed sadly interrupted the
work which I am of all others most desirous to com-
plete. I have already a great deal of matter in a state
of forwardness, and another year (Deo favente) will,
I trust, give you a better account of me. My last
course of public lectures in Boston commences in a
fortnight, and will be over towards the close of Feb-
ruary. You will admit that there is some temptation
to a person who has so many uses for money, when I
tell you that I received twelve hundred dollars for the
delivery of twelve lectures, and that there are strong
reasons beyond what the institution that employs me
may justly demand, that I should do my best. This,
however, will soon be over, and the " Flora " shall be
pushed with vigor. ... I greatly long to revisit Eng-
land and to see you all once more. Nothing would
delight me more ; and there is a world of work I want

MT.35.] TO JOHN TORRE Y. 339

to do in the collections of England and the Continent.
Indeed you may look to see me one of these days, for
I cannot long be satisfied or quiet without such a
visit ; though I shall hardly dare to show my face till
the " Flora " is finished. How glad I shall be to see
you in your quarters at Kew, and renew my acquaint-
ance with all the family, of whom I retain so many
pleasant memories. With kind regards to all, believe
me, Ever your affectionate friend,

A. GRAY.

TO JOHN TOEREY.

CAMBRIDGE, January 26, 1846.

Your favor of the 22d I found this evening on my
return from my afternoon's lecture. I am very tired
and cannot write much this evening. Four of my
lectures l are off. You will be glad to know that they
have gone off very well — the three first admirably ;
indeed I was surprised myself at the fluency, ease, and
" enlargement " which was given me. The fourth, both
last evening and this afternoon, was poorer — inter-
esting details, but scrappy, and less comfort in speak-
ing. Splendid illustrations up though. . . . The pic-
tures were worth something, if the lecture was not.
I shall spur myself up hard for those four to come,
which are fully illustrated, in fact a complete embar-
ras de richesses. Then come the four geographical
lectures, which if Sprague gets the illustrations ready
will be very interesting, I think. I must work them
off well, for at least two of our seven members of
corporation are constant hearers.

. . . There is a formidable amount of work of vari-
ous sorts that should be accomplished (Deo favente)

1 The third course of Lowell lectures.

340 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1846,

before the July vacation. . . . The contemplated expe-
dition is a land one, from Lake Superior by North Pass
to upper Oregon, down to Lewis River ; up that, and
then over to the Gila River in California. I know of no
botanist to go. Can you find one ? Sprague cannot
be spared, and will not leave his wife and family for
so long.

. . . Some of our Congressmen must feel a little
ashamed that England is so cool and quiet in spite of
all their bluster. Capital for peace that the Peel min-
istry is still in. We owe much gratitude to the new
Lord Grey. . . .

TO GEORGE ENGELMANN.

CAMBRIDGE, April 8, 1846.

What is Lindheimer about ? Why is not his last
year's collection yet with you? We have just got
things going, and we can sell fifty sets right off of his
further collections, and he can go on and realize a
handsome sum of money, if he will only work now !
And he will connect his name forever with the Texan
Flora !

I am at the " Flora " again and hope to do great
things this year, — shall work hard and constantly.

Besides, by the aid of my young and excellent
artist Sprague's drawings, and Prestele to engrave
cheaply and neatly on stone, I am going to commence
a Genera Illustrata of the United States, like T.
Nees von Esenbeck's " Genera Germanica Iconibus
Illustrata," — the plates to be equally good, and
quite cheap too. The first volume, one hundred
plates, going on regularly from RanunculaceaB, will
be preparing this summer, and will be out in the
fall.

VET. 35.] TO GEORGE ENGELMANN. 341

May 30.

Have done something at the " Flora ; " shall do much
work this season after July 4th, when college duties
are over. Drawings for " Genera" are getting on well.

One word now on another point. We must have a
collector for plants living and dry to go to Santa F£,
with the Government Expedition. If I were not so
tied up, I would go myself. Have you not some good
fellow you can send ? We could probably get him
attached somehow so as to have the protection of the
army, and if need be I could raise here two hundred
dollars as an outfit. He could make it worth the
while. He could collect sixty sets of five hundred
plants (besides seeds and Cacti) very soon, which,
named by us, would go off at once at ten dollars per
hundred. Somebody must go into this unexplored
field ! Let me know if you think anything can be
done, and I will set to work. The great thing is a
proper man.

July 15.

I duly received your favor of June 25th ; am de-
lighted that you found a man to send to Santa Fe. I
approve your mode of carrying out the plan, and will
not be slow to aid in it. I wrote at once to Sullivant,
telling him to forward fifty dollars for Fendler, l — to
take his pay in Mosses and Hepaticse, and to give in-
structions about collecting these, his great favorites.
Before this reaches you, I am sure you will hear from
him. He is a capital fellow, and Fendler must be
taught to collect Mosses for him.

1 Augustus Fendler, 1813-1883. Came from Prussia to America
in 1840. Collected in New Mexico, and on the Andes about Tovar in
Venezuela, and in Trinidad. " A close, accurate observer, a capital col-
lector and specimen-maker ; his distributed specimens are classical. Of
a scientific turn of mind in other lines than botany " [A. G.].

342 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1846,

Then came your letter of July 3d. All right. I
immediately wrote to Marcy, the Secretary of War,
and to Colonel Abert, the head of the Topographical
Engineer Corps ; asked for protection and transpor-
tation ; told the secretary to send anything he might
be disposed to do to you at St. Louis. I then inclosed
your letter to Mr. Lowell, and have just received it
back again, with his letter, which I inclose to you !
Is it not handsome? . . . Now Fendler has money
enough to begin with. As soon as he is in the field,
and shown by his first collections that he is deserving,
I can get as much more money advanced for him,
from other parties. If he only makes as good and
handsome specimens as Lindheimer, all will be well.
His collections should commence when he crosses the
Arkansas ; his first envoi should be the plants between
that and Santa Fe, and be sent this fall, with seeds,
cacti, and bulbs, the former of every kind he can get.
These must be confined to yourself, Mr. Lowell, and
me, till we see what we get by raising them. Other
live plants he had better not attempt now.

His next collection must be at and around Santa
Fe. But instruct him to get into high mountains, or
as high as he can find, whenever he can. The moun-
tains to the north of Santa Fe often rise to the snow-
line, and are perfectly full of new things. But you
can best judge what instructions to give him. We
can sell just as many sets of plants as he will make
good specimens of. But forty sets is about as many
as he ought to make. . . .

It is said that a corps of troops is to be sent up
through Texas towards New Spain. Lindheimer
ought to go along, and so get high up into the country,
where so much is new, and the plants have really " no
Latin names."

^T. 35.] TO JOHN TORREY. 343

October 8th.

By the way, meeting Agassiz last evening, I was
pleased to learn that he claimed you as a schoolmate,
and spoke of you with lively pleasure. He is a fine,
pleasant fellow. We shall take good care of him here.

January 5, 1847.

I am glad so fine a collection is on the way from
Lindheimer, and greatly approve his going to the
mountains on the Guadaloupe. How high are the
mountains ? If good, real mountains, and he can get
on to them, and into secluded valleys, he will do great
things. . . .

We will keep ahead of the Bonn people. By the
close of next summer (Deo favente) we may hope to
have the botany of Texas pretty well in our hands.

Do you hear from Fendler? Hooker says that re-
gion, the mountains especially, is the best ground to
explore in North America ! There is a high moun-
tain right back of Santa Fe. Fendler must ravish it.

TO JOHN TORREY.

Wednesday, [October, 1846].

A Mr. Baird,1 of Carlisle, Pa., called on me yester-
day, evidently a most keen naturalist (ornithology
principally), but a man of more than common grasp.
He talked about an evergreen-leaved Vaccinium, which
I have no doubt is V. brachycerum, MX., that I have
so long sought in vain ! . . .

13th October, 1846.

I leave Agassiz in New York. He will leave New
York Wednesday morning ; join me at Princeton,

1 Spencer F. Baird, afterward widely known as secretary of the
Smithsonian Institution.

344 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1846,

and go on with us to Philadelphia that evening. We
shall probably go together to Carlisle, where he has
something to do with that capital naturalist, Professor
Baird, and" I have to get live Vaccinium brachycerum.
He will soon return to make ready his lectures here.

Agassiz is an excellent fellow, and I know you will
be glad to make his personal acquaintance. I must
make my stay, such as it can be, at Princeton, on
my return. . . .

9th December, 1846.

Agassiz lectured first last evening ; fine audience ;
he had a cold; was very hoarse, so that he spoke
with discomfort to himself, but it went off very well.
Though he by no means did himself justice, the audi-
ence seemed well pleased, and the persons I spoke
with at the time, the most intelligent people, were
quite delighted and impressed. He has repeated to-
day. I expect to hear him again on Friday. . . .

I have sixteen proofs of " Genera Illustrata." The
engraving is clean and neat, but except a few of the
last, they are not done so well as we expect, and do
not do justice to the drawings, which, indeed, are
almost matchless. Prestele has, in some, altered the
arrangement of the analyses on the plate ; conse-
quently they must be done over again.

I am clear that Prestele can do what I want, so I
liave given him further instructions, and have raised
his pay to $2.50 each ; increasing my own risk thereby.
Sprague has discovered some new quiddities about the
position of the ovule in Rammculacese. The raphe is
dorsal in all of them, with pendulous ovules ; also in
Nelumbium.

He will go on very slowly ; I can't hurry him. He
has not yet taken up Croomia.

JKT. 36.] TO JOHN TORREY. 345

You have not told me about Chapman's queer plant
yet! ...

Unless Nuttall has arrived, which I do not hear of,
it is too late for him till next fall ; for his object was
to secure three months' absence out of the present
year, and three out of next.1

January 24, 1847.

Agassiz has finished his lectures with great eclat —
most admirable course — and on Thursday evening
last he volunteered an additional one in French, which
was fine.

I gave you the explanation you asked for in my
last letter, which I still hope you will find. What I
then said about the excellent tone of his lectures gen-
erally was fully sustained to the last ; they have been
good lectures on natural theology. The whole spirit
was vastly above that of any geological course I ever
heard, his refutation of Lamarckian or " Vestiges "
views most pointed and repeated. The whole course
was planned on a very high ground, and his references
to the Creator were so natural and unconstrained as to
show that they were never brought in for effect.

The points that I. A. Smith has got hold of were a
few words at the close of his lecture on the geographi-
cal distribution of animals, in which he applied the
views he maintains (which are those of Schouw still
further extended) to man.

He thinks that animals and plants were originally
created in numbers, occupying considerable area, per-
haps almost as large as they now occupy. I should

1 A relative left Nuttall a comfortable little estate and property on
condition that he should not be away from it more than three months
in the year. He managed to come to America again by taking the
three last months of one year and the three first of the next.

346 A DECADE OF WORK A T HOME. [1847,

mention that he opposes Lyell and others who main-
tain that very many of the Tertiary species are the
same as those now existing. He believes there is not
one such, but that there was an entirely new creation
at the commencement of the historic era, which is all
we want to harmonize geology with Genesis. Now,
as to man he maintains distinctly that they are all one
species. But he does not believe that the Negro and
Malay races descended from the sons of Noah, but
had a distinct origin. This, you will see, is merely an
extension of his general view. We should not re-
ceive it, rejecting it on other than scientific grounds,
of which he does not feel the force as we do.

But so far from bringing this against the Bible, he
brings the Bible to sustain his views, thus appealing
to its authority instead of endeavoring to overthrow it.
He shows from it (conclusively) that all the sons of
Noah (Ham with the rest) were the fathers of the ex-
tant Caucasian races, — races which have remained
nearly unaltered from the first, and that if any negroes
proceeded from Ham's descendants, it must have been
by a miracle. That is the upshot of the matter. We
may reject his conclusions, but we cannot find fault
with his spirit, and I shall be glad to know that Dr. I.
A. Smith, in the whole course of his public teaching,
has displayed a reverence for the Bible equal to that
of Agassiz. I have been on the most intimate terms
with him : I never heard him express an opinion or a
word adverse to the claims of revealed religion. His
admirable lectures on embryology contain the most
original and fundamental confutation of materialism I
ever heard.

I make the " Manual " keep clear of slavery, — New
Jersey, Pennsylvania (if little Delaware manumits

.ET.36.] TO JOHN TORRE Y. 347

perhaps I can find a corner for it), Ohio, Indiana or
not as the case may be, leave out Illinois, which has
too many Mississippi plants, take in Michigan and
Wisconsin, at least Lapham's * plants near the Lakes.
That makes a very homogeneous florula.

I have made as usual much less progress than I
supposed; so now, pressed at the same time with col-
lege duties, I have to work very hard indeed. Carey
is coming on to help me. . . . Sheet full.

July 20, 1847.

Did you not know that an application has come
from Wilkes through Pickering 2 to Sprague to make
some botanical drawings for the Exploring Expedi-
tion, which, as I supposed they were to be for your
use, I persuaded Sprague to promise to undertake, at
ten dollars for each folio drawing with the dissections
full. . . . The price we fixed is as low as Sprague
can do them for, to any advantage, even if he had
nothing else to do. The price I fixed for the draw-
ings of u Genera," and which I thought very large,
(|6 per plate) does not thus far pay Sprague day
wages, he takes so much time and care with them. I
can only hope that the experience and facility he is
getting will enable him to knock them off faster here-
after. You see therefore that Sprague cannot afford
to make the drawings for Emory at the price he made
those for Fremont — two dollars apiece. He will do
them better ; having now such skill in dissections he

1 Increase Allen Laphara, 1811-1875 ; author of a Catalogue of
Plants in the Vicinity of Milwaukee.

2 Charles Pickering-, 1805-1878. " Author of Geographical Distri-
bution of Plants and Animals and Man's Record of his own Existence,
largely a record of changes in the habitat of plants. A monument of
wonderful industry " [A. G.j.

348 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1847,

will display structure finely, but he must not under-
take them under six dollars apiece, since they will
cost him as much time as do my octavo " Genera "
drawings. He might make what you want along this
summer and autumn ; I am not crowding him.

September 28, 1847.

I had a pleasant visit to Litchfield of three days, in-
cluding the Sabbath. On the banks of a lake in the
neighborhood I stumbled on a species of Cyperus
dentatus, which in the " Flora of the Northern States "
you credit to Litchfield, Brace.1 This Mr. Brace, who
is an uncle of J.'s, I met for a moment at New Mil-
ford, where he now lives. There are three great aunts,
most excellent old ladies, who live in a simple and
most delightful manner at Litchfield. The youngest,
who has been J.'s guardian almost from infancy, re-
turned with us to Boston for a week or two. Their
brother, Mr. Pierce, who died only last year, was, it
seems, an old friend of yours, through whom they feel
almost acquainted with you. He passed a part of his
life in New York, was a mineralogist, and I think I
have seen his name as a member of the Lyceum. Pray
tell me about him.

I found it not easy to make an arrangement in
New York for the publication of the " Illustrated Gen-
era," by which I could get back directly the money
I have expended in it. I think, therefore, I shall go
on to defray the expenses of the first volume myself,
which I think I shall be able to do, and thus manage
to get the immediate proceeds myself. As to the
"Manual," I have unwittingly made it so large, in

1 John P. Brace, Litchfield, Conn. ; an early botanist and miner-
alogist. His herbarium went to Williams College.

,KT. 36.] TO J. L. L. 349

spite of all my endeavors at compression, that I can
make nothing to speak of from the first edition, even
if it sells right off.

TO J. L. L.

Monday evening, 9 o'clock, 1847.

When I reached home Henry and Agassiz were here.
No one else came (as I expected), and Agassiz in-
sisted on returning in the nine o'clock omnibus.
Agassiz and Henry enjoy and admire each other so
richly, and talk science so glowingly and admiringly,
that I think I should not have been at all surprised to
see them exchange kisses before they were done. And
Agassiz told him he meant to come to Cambridge, and
they began to talk of their children, and Agassiz read
extracts from letters just received from his wife and
his son, who — to Agassiz's great pride and satisfaction
— had just climbed the Fellenberg in the Breisgau,
slept on the summit in the open air to see the sun rise
in the morning, then descended and walked, I forget
how many miles. Pretty well for a lad of eleven.

It is not a year since I told Henry that he should
have either Agassiz or Wyman at Washington, but
that we must have one of them at Cambridge.
Beyond all expectation we have them both !

Henry gave me — I know not what led to it — a full
detailed account of his life from early boyhood, which
was full of curious interest and suggested much matter
for reflection. In the evening we fell to discoursing
on philosophical topics, and Henry threw out great
and noble thoughts, and as we both fell to conversing
with much animation my headache disappeared en-
tirely. There is no man from whom I learn so much
as Henry. He calls out your own .powers, too, sur-
prisingly. . . .

350 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1847,

I have been addling my brain and straining my
eyes over a set of ignoble Pond-weeds (alias Potamo-
geton) trying to find the

" difference there should be
Twixt tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee,"

and wasting about as much brain in the operation as
your dear paternal would expend in an intricate law
case, for all of which I suppose nobody will thank me
and I shall get no fee. Indeed, few would see the
least sense in devoting so much time to a set of vile
little weeds. But I could not slight them. The
Creator seems to have bestowed as much pains on
them, if we may use such a word, as upon more con-
spicuous things, so I do not see why I should not try
to study them out. But I shall be glad when they
are done, which I promise they shall be before I sleep.
10.45 P. M. — There, the pond-weeds are done fairly.

TO W. J. HOOKER.

CAMBRIDGE, December 1st, 1847.

I reply early to your kind letter of October 30th to
assure you that I shall with much pleasure contribute
so far as I have opportunity to the new Botanical
Museum, which, under your charge, and with your
great opportunities for obtaining things from every
part of the world, will soon become a magnificent
collection. I have already several things to send you,
such as two very large entwined stems of Aristo-
lochia Sipho, which I brought from the mountains of
Carolina ; a Dasylirion from Texas, etc. I have some
time ago made arrangements for getting curious stems
from Para, through a friend in Salem, who will also
incite the masters and supercargoes of ships from that
port which trade with various out-of-the-way parts of

^T. 37.] TO GEORGE ENGELMANN. 351

the world. The first things sent from Para were
slabs rather than truncheons of wood (all ordinary
exogenes), but I am promised palm stems and
woody climbers, of which I shall take a portion to
build up our general Natural History Museum at
Cambridge, which with the zeal of Agassiz and Wy-
man is now likely to grow ; the rest I will send to
you. If you will send me a few duplicates of your
circular, I will have them placed in proper hands
where they may turn to good account. I am de-
lighted to hear such pleasant things of Dr. Hooker,
which I had also heard last summer from Mrs. Mc-
Gilvray. I owe him a letter, but it is too late to send
my congratulations, now that he is probably far on
the way to India. I admire his zeal and energy, and
wish him an excellent time and a prosperous return.
The government has behaved most handsomely in
affording him such important aid in his undertaking.

Proper specimens of maple sugar will keep per-
fectly well if placed in a glass jar with a closed cover.
I will surely send some in the spring.

TO GEORGE ENGELMANN.

CAMBRIDGE, December 20, 1847.

I got a parcel from New York on Saturday even-
ing, containing a few welcome plants of Wislizenus' 1
collection, and a set of Fendler's from Santa FC*, up
to Rosaceae. The specimens are perfectly charming !
so well made, so full and perfect. Better never were
made. In a week I shall take them right up to study,
and they are Rocky Mountain forms of vegetation en-
tirely, so I can do it with ease and comfort. It is a

1 A. Wislizenus, M. D., b. 1810. Explored New Mexico and Mexico ;
was arrested as a spy. On returning to the United States published a
memoir of the tour, 1846-1847.

352 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1848,

cool region that, and dry. If these come from the
plains, what will the mountains yield ? Fendler must
go back, or a new collector, now that order is restored
there.

All Fendler's collection will sell at once, no fear,
such fine specimens and so many good plants. Pity
that F. did not know enough to leave out some of the
common plants, except two or three specimens for us,
and bestow the same labor on the new plants around
him.

Send on the rest soon.

Yours cordially, A. GRAY.

TO CHARLES WRIGHT.

CAMBRIDGE, January 17, 1848.

DEAR FRIEND, — That I ought to have replied to
your letter of the 19th November, to say nothing of
that of September 21 and June 18, there is no doubt.
The letter I have carried in my pocket a good while,
hoping to catch a moment somewhere and some time
to write to you, especially as the time approaches in
which I may be sending a parcel to New Orleans for
you. But I have not had an hour's leisure not de-
manded by letters of immediate pressing consequence,
or in which I was not too tired to write.

There are many correspondents whom I have
neglected almost as much as I have you. I have
worked like a dog, but my work laid out to be finished
last July is not done yet.

But from about the time of your last letter a provi-
dential dispensation has prevented me from doing
what I would, namely, the sickness, by typhoid fever,
of a beloved brother (a Junior in college here), who
required every leisure moment from the time he be-

JET. 37.] TO CHARLES WRIGHT. 353

came seriously sick up to the 9th inst. — a week ago
— when it pleased the Sovereign Disposer of events,
to whom I bow, to remove him to a better world ; and
I am but recently returned from the mournful journey
to convey to the paternal home (in western New
York) his mortal remains. This has somewhat inter-
rupted the printing of the last sheets of my " Manual
of North American Botany ; " which, with all my efforts
at condensation, has extended to almost eight hun-
dred pages! ! (12mo), including the introduction. It
will be difficult to get the volume within covers. A
year's hard labor is bestowed upon it ; I hope it will
be useful and supply a desideratum. As a consola-
tion for my honest faithfulness in making it tolerably
thorough, and so much larger than I expected it
would prove, it is now clear that I shall get nothing or
next to it for my year's labor. At the price to which
it must be kept to get it into our schools, etc., there
is so little to be made by it, that I cannot induce a
publisher to pay the heavy bills, except upon terms
which swallow up all the proceeds ; or at the very
least I may get $200, if it all sells, a year or two hence.

Meanwhile, I have paid the expenses principally
incurred on the first volume of " Illustrated Genera,"
which I can't print and finish till the " Manual " is
out ; have run heavily into debt in respect to these
works, which were merely a labor of love for the good
of the science and an honorable ambition ; and how
I am going to get through I cannot well see. . . .

I should despond greatly if I were not of a cheerful
temperament. . . .

I wish I could write to you as you wish, all about
botany, etc. I wish I could aid you as I desire, but
I fear it is impossible. I must have rest and less

354 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1848,

anxiety. Two more years like the last would probably
destroy me. If I had an assistant or two, to take de-
tails off my hands, I might stand it ; as it is I cannot.
Carey spent three months with me last season, and
was to study and ticket your Texan collection in my
hands, take a set for his trouble, and Mr. Lowell
and Mr. S. T. Carey would take what they needed
and pay for them, so that I could pay your book-bill
at Fowle's. The utmost Carey found time to do was
to throw the collection into orders ; there they still lie,
in the corner ! There perhaps they had best lie, now,
till the collection of the past season reaches me, when
I will try to study them all together, along with Lind-
heimer's collections, a set of which still waits for me
to study them. Will you wonder that I am a little
disheartened when, in spite of every effort, I make so
little progress ? And in six weeks I begin to lecture
in college again ; and in April the Garden will require
more time than I can give it. Such are merely some
of the things on my hands, some of my cares ! Still
I am interested in you, and in your collections, and
will do what I can. . . .

Then if you will continue to send seeds (pretty
largely), also bulbs, cacti, tubers, etc., now in early
spring (and root-cuttings of some vines), taking pains
that they are sent in a direct way, so as to come
alive in May, etc., I will get an appropriation allowed
from the Garden for you. Don't try other live plants
till we have better communication with Texas. We
have sunk money in this already and had to give it
up. .

Forgive my long neglect ; accept my apologies. I '11
see if I can do any better hereafter, when I have a
wife to write letters for me.

^T. 37.] TO GEORGE ENGELMANN. 355

March 10th.

Besides all the rest, the Academy's correspondence
presses hard on me. I have written twenty-four letters
for the steamer to-morrow. Fairly to keep up my
correspondence and answer all my letters would take
full two hours every day of the week except the Sab-
bath. So have mercy, and long patience. . . .

Meanwhile my " Manual " is out ; but not published
till the 10th February. What can you expect from a
man who takes up a job in February, 1847, to finish
in May or June certain ; but who, though he works
like a dog, and throws by everything else, does not
get it done till February comes round again. So it is
only now that I have anything to send you. I am
now printing off my " Genera Illustrata " — the text
for one hundred plates ; mean to have it out in a
month ; but I will not wait any longer. . . .

TO GEORGE ENGELMANN.

CAMBRIDGE, Fehruary 29, 1848.

. . . Now for Fendler himself. He ought to go
back, and without delay. He has gained much expe-
rience, and will now work to greater advantage. He
makes unrivaled specimens, and with your farther in-
structions will collect so as to make more equable sets.
If he will stay and bide his time he can get on to the
mountains, and must try the higher ones, especially
those near Taos.

Let him stay two years, and if he is energetic he
will reap a fine harvest for botany, and accumulate a
pretty little sum for himself, and have learned a pro-
fession, for such that of a collector now is. Drum-
mond made money quite largely.

I had rather Fendler would go north and west

356 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1848,

than south of Santa Fe. New Spain and Rocky
Mountain botany is far more interesting to us than
Mexican.

TO JOHN TOBBEY.

March 29, 1848.

Your parcel came to-day ; many thanks. After
dinner I have just looked over the Mexican Com-
positae of Gregg,1 which are numerous, and quite a
bonne bouche. My old love of the dear pappose crea-
tures revived at the sight, and I longed to take them
by the beard. If at liberty to do so (am I ?) I think
I will, at the same time I do the Santa-Feans ; and at
the same time I will study any of Abert's or Emory's
Mexican or North Spain Compositae you have not
already disposed of. As to the parcel to be divided,
of which there are no duplicates, whoever packed your
parcel has taken care that there shall be pieces enough,
if no specimens ! They were in longer paper than the
other bundles ; not protected by binder's board, and
therefore both ends, for two or three inches, were nicely
bent up against the ends of the shorter bundle next
them ; which was very pretty for the shape of the
parcel, but death to many of the plants ; for the fold
came just below the heads in most cases, too many of
which were decapitated like the victims of the (last
but two) French revolution.

I have been going on with recitations for some
time, twice a week (two hours), and to-day I began
my lectures to the whole Junior class, on Geographi-
cal Botany for the present.

1 Josiah Gregg, died in California, 1850 ; made excellent collec-
tions in Chihuahua and in the Valley of the Rio Grande. Author of
the Commerce of the Prairies.

^T. 37.] TO W. J. HOOKER. 357

What with these duties, superintending gardener,
and painting and papering in the house, and Sprague
drawing for the second volume of "Genera," and I
printing the first, with the printer ever on my heels
for copy, and at the same time printing Memoirs and
Proceedings of the Academy, and managing large
correspondence, you may conceive that my hands are
full. Yours most cordially,

A. GRAY.

TO W. J. HOOKER.

CAMBRIDGE, 2d May, 1848.

I send ... a copy (roughly put into paper covers)
of the first volume of " Genera Illustrata," regretting
there is not time to send you a bound copy. I hope
you will like it. Sprague is improving fast, reads
Brown's papers, etc., and is getting a good insight
into structural botany, even the nicest points. We
mean to carry on the work, and I hope for considera-
ble London sale of it. The price is $6, or in London,
<£! 10s., which I trust will be thought low. Please
notice it in the " Journal." The proceeds go princi-
pally to support Sprague in carrying on the work. I
put his name on the title-page without his knowledge
and at the expense of his great modesty.

I want to introduce the tussock grass on our east-
ern coast, where it will thrive well. Is it too late to
send this spring ? Or will you send in autumn ?

P. S. — The last steamer brought good news of
peace and strength in England, dissipating the alarm
of many, but I felt none myself, having a strong confi-
dence in the soundness of Old England and the dura-
bility of her institutions, of which I am here esteemed
an over admirer.

358 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1848,

Dr. Gray was married, May 4, 1848, to Jane
L., daughter of Charles Greely Loring, a lawyer in
Boston. In June they made a short journey to
Washington, that Dr. Gray might, on undertaking to
describe the plants of the United States Exploring
Expedition, see Commodore Wilkes.

TO JOHN TORBEY.

CAMBRIDGE, 8th May, 1848.

Yesterday I sent to Grant at Wiley's for you a
parcel containing some " Linnseas," etc., received from
Hamburg, your copy of Seubert on Elatine, and a
bound copy of the " Genera Flora3 Americae Boreali-
Orientalis Illustrata," which I ask you to accept, and
which I trust you will like. There is also a specimen
inclosed of some vegetable product that has lately be-
come somewhat common here, and which I thought you
might like to examine. It is apparently of a rather
complicated structure, in fruit evidently, but syncar-
pous ; the heterogenous and baccate or fleshy ovaries
being immersed without apparent order in a farina-
ceous receptacle. If you should be at all puzzled
with it, and can't find out to what particular family
it belongs, you might call in the aid of Mrs. Torrey
and the girls, to aid in the investigation. I dare say
you will make it out.

June, 1848.

I am just home this morning, and as I had no time
yesterday to reply to your kind letter of Saturday, I
write at once now. . . .

Friday evening we were at the White House, to see
Madame Polk. We have accomplished a great deal
of sight-seeing and all in our week and a day, and J.

^T. 37.] TO JOHN TORREY. 359

has enjoyed it much, except the drawback of not see-
ing Mrs. T. and the girls and yourself at home, which
she greatly wished. . . .

Now as to Exploring Expedition. We will talk it
over in full when you come on here toward the end of
this month.

Suffice it to say (as I am pressed for time) that I
had made up my mind what I would do it for before
I left home ; that on looking over the collection, as to
various parts of it, as far as time allowed, I found it
less ample than I supposed, but with many difficulties
owing to specimens in fruit only, or flower only. I
think it no very awful job, if done in the way I pro-
pose, which is, not by monographs by people abroad,
which the committee will not agree to, but by work-
ing up a part abroad in Hooker's, or Bentham's, or
Garden of Plants herbarium.

The chairman of the committee and Wilkes be-
haved very well, and told me they were very desirous
I should take it up.

On Friday evening Wilkes came in, before we went
to the President's ; asked me to say what I would do.
I told him at once what I would do (just what I had
told J. before we left Cambridge), and Wilkes at once
accepted my terms, as I supposed he would. My terms
were based on the supposition that there is five years'
work in preparing for the press the collections left on
hand, and in superintending the printing. . . .

We must settle together the typographical form of
the work, etc., when you come, and we will make the
other writers conform to the plan we agree on, which
perhaps you have already fixed.

Now I want a careful and active curator. What
young botanist can I get ? . . .

360 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1848,

27th Nov., 1848.

Wright is up from Texas (with his mother at
Wethersfield, Connecticut) ; he will soon be here as
curator to me, taking Lesquereux's 1 place, who has
been with me a little, but now, as a consequence of
his visit to Columbus, goes to aid Sullivant, with a
provision that makes the truly worthy fellow perfectly
happy. They will do up bryology at a great rate.
Lesquereux says that the collection and library of Sul-
livant in muscology are " magnifique, superbe, the best
he ever saw."

TO GEORGE ENGELMANN.

January 24, 1849.

Halstead, I believe, has nearly decided to go on the
Panama Railroad Survey ; I trust to get Wright at-
tached to the boundary survey. I have a letter from
Fendler, in which he expressed his willingness to go to
the Great Salt Lake country, if he can get government
protection and food, etc. In a few days I shall write to
Marcy ; send him the sheets of " Plantse Fendlerianae,"
and make a vigorous application for this aid. No
doubt I shall get it, I think. But perhaps it might
be almost as well for Fendler to go over with a party
of emigrants directly to Mormon City. But probably
there will be emigrants bound for the same place,
accompanying the regiment, as near as they go.
Fendler can do admirably well in that region, if he
perseveres. But will he not take the gold-fever and
leave us in the lurch ? Will not living, etc., be very
dear in Mormon City also ? I fear it. I must leave
much to your discretion. Only if you think Fendler

1 Leo Lesquereux, 1806-1889 ; the leading fossil botanist of Amer-
ica, and a distinguished bryologist.

<ET.38.] TO GEORGE ENGELMANN. 361

has a strong tendency to gold-hunting (which few could
resist) let him go. And afterwards, if he chooses to
collect plants, very well. Few can withstand the
temptation when fairly within the infected region, and
we hear the Mormons have found gold also. . . .

February 25, 1849.

I have just received from the secretary of war, Mr.
Marcy, and inclose to you, what I think will procure
all the facilities that Fendler can wish from United
States troops. If, as I was informed, the secretary
has no right to issue an order for rations to Fendler, he
has certainly done the best thing by issuing a recom-
mendation which will, if the commander is favorably
disposed, enable him to give all without any order.
Indeed, I think we could ask nothing better. . . .

In my haste, and multitude of business, I have
shabbily neglected to send the copies of " Plantse
Fendlerianse " to Hamburg for Braun. And now the
Danes have blockaded the Elbe. . . .

I think I shall soon send the smaller things to you
by express, and retain the three volumes of " Me-
moirs " for some opportunity less expensive. We want
railroad all the way to St. Louis.

I am crowded — overwhelmed — with work. But
college work will be over in July, and the second vol-
ume of " Genera," which I am now hard at work on,
will soon be printed off; a week more and I shall
have finished the copy.

I must then work at Exploring Expedition Com-
positse, and soon at Fendlerianse, and (when the sets
arrive) at Lindheimer's, if you wish. I have made a
genus of the Texan Rue — between Ruta and Aplo-
phyllum, — e. g., Rutosma. I think there are some

A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1849,

good remarks you will like in the second volume of
" Genera."

I foresee an unusually good chance to get rid of the
college work a year hence, and must therefore try to
overhaul the Exploring Expedition plants, so as to get
them into some shape, and next year (May or April)
go abroad with them, sit down in London and Paris,
and work them off. I will then drum up subscribers
for Fendler and Lindheimer.

I want you to help me a little about Trees ; our na-
tive trees up to Cornus inclusive, for this year, for the
report I have promised the Smithsonian Institution.1
I wish I had a good assistant ; one who could work at
botany. Perhaps I can find one abroad.

TO JOHN TOBREY.

February 26, 1849.

Having determined on an expedition for Wright,
you may be sure I was not going to be altogether dis-
appointed. Accordingly I have got one all arranged
(Lowell 2 and Greene subscribing handsomely) which
is as much better than Emory's as possible, and thus
far everything has wonderfully conspired to favor
it. Wright has left me this morning to go to his
mother's in Connecticut (Wethersfield) ; there to make
his portfolios and presses ; comes on to New York
soon ; takes first vessel for Galveston (I expect a letter

1 Sprague made, under Dr. Gray's directions, some drawings in
color of the work planned, The Trees of North America. The work
was never completed, too many things, expense, etc., coming in the
way, but the few plates printed and colored by Prestele were issued
in a small quarto pamphlet by the Smithsonian Institution in 1891.

2 John Amory Lowell, 1798-1881 ; a Boston merchant, and a lib-
eral patron of botany. He bought many valuable books and collected
a fine herbarium. He shaped the policy and direction of the Lowell
Institute founded by his cousin, John Lowell.

^T. 38.] TO JOHN TORREY. 363

from Hastings telling when it sails), and to reach
Austin and Fredericksburg in time to accompany the
troops that are about to be sent up, by a new road,
across a new country, to El Paso, in New Mexico.
Look on the map (Wislizenus) and you will see the
region we mean him to explore this summer ; the hot
valley of Rio del Norte, early in the season, the moun-
tains east, and especially those west in summer. He
will probably stay two years, and get to Taos and
Spanish Peaks this year or next. We shall have
government recommendations to protection, and let-
ters to an officer (commanding) who, through Henry,
has already made overtures to collect himself or aid in
the matter.

26th May, 1849.

I have finished all the copy of " Genera Illustrata,"
vol. ii., at length; the printer has yet two or three
sheets to set up. The plates are working off in New
York. It will now soon be off my hands. It is long
since I have done anything at Exploring Expedition
plants. I am now going at them. It is a shabby, un-
satisfactory collection. . . .

CAMBRIDGE, November 2, 1849.

. . . Sorry I am that you could not be here while
Harvey is here ; he will be south by Christmas. He
desires me to say that he expects to spend the first half
of December in New York at Dr. Hosack's, and will
be most glad to see you. I am sure you will like him.
We are perfectly charmed with him. A quiet, unaf-
fected, pleasant man — extremely lovable. He works
away at a table in my study. His course is a very in-
teresting one. He is a beautiful writer, but not very
fluent extempore, though with more practice he would
be a fine lecturer. He has a good audience. . . .

364 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1849,

Sprague has promised now to take up and finish
your quarto drawings. He says he can work but a little
while at a time, from a difficulty of breathing. Had
I foreseen his health and vigor giving way, I should
not have undertaken the Trees, which, as to illustra-
tions (as he is more fond of them than of anything else,
and has made fine drawings), we have gradually en-
larged our ideas about them much beyond the original
plan, as to the figures. He must get this volume off
his hands this winter, anyhow. The " Genera " will
lie in abeyance. . . .

My plan is only to bring out one volume of the Tree-
Eeport next spring, and not to go beyond the limits
of the United States proper, those of " Genera Illus-
trata," except to mention the trees of the far West in
a general way ; otherwise it would be far too formi-
dable. . . .

Sir John Richardson dropped in on me the very
day Harvey arrived, expressed regret he could not
see you, learned here the rumored news of Franklin.
I wish you could have been here at a little dinner
party we made for them. He is at home by this time.

TO W. J. HOOKER.

December 3, 1849.

. . . We are glad to hear what fine discoveries your
son is making in Thibet, etc.

I saw to-day for the first time, at Green's, the Hima-
laya Rhododendrons. . . .

I have just parted from Harvey, who has passed
seven weeks with us, and having finished his course at
the Lowell with much acceptance now joins his
friends at New York and Philadelphia till Christmas,
and then goes south to Florida, Alabama, and proba-

JET. 39.] TO GEORGE BENTHAM. 365

bly either to Jamaica (where Dr. Alexander now is) or
to the mountains at the St. lago end of Cuba, a terra
incognita nearly. Harvey is a most winning man ; my
wife and I have become extremely attached to him,
and are sorry to part with him.

We do not mean to let any naturalist be idle who
comes to this country, so he is already engaged to give
illustrations of our peculiar Algae for the Smithsonian
contributions and to prepare (after his return home,
of course) a manual of United States Algae after the
fashion of his second edition of " British Algae."
There will be no small demand for it. ...

P. S. — Mr. Wright got through to El Paso in
southern New Mexico, and is on his way back, with,
he says, a fine collection.

We got some fine daguerreotypes of Harvey, so
much better, he says, than he has seen in England
that he has had an extra one taken for Lady Hooker.

TO GEORGE BENTHAM.

CAMBRIDGE, January 7, 1850.

Your letter of December 4th and your very flattering
article in the December number of " Hooker's Jour-
nal " were both most gratifying ; and the remarks on
the Mimosa were timely, as I was just about con-
signing the manuscript of the earlier part of the new
"Plantae Lindheimerianae " to the printer. I like
what you say about " deduplication " much, and freely
accept almost all. I took the name coined to my
hand, not feeling at liberty to coin a new one. I
think the production of new organs one before the
other can be pretty well explained morphologically
and anatomically, in accordance with your hint, and
shall attempt to work it out in the third edition of my

366 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1850,

" Botanical Text-Book," which I am now preparing for
the press. I shall be most glad of any further hints.

May I ask you what you think of Adrien de Jus-
sieu's way of explaining the regular alternation of
organs in the flower ? I greatly incline to it. ...

I have to finish this Lindheimer collection, finish
Fendler's, distribute and study Wright's collection
when I get it, carry the " Botanical Text-Book "
through the press, rewriting and expanding it (thus
far I have made it all over), write the first volume of
an elaborate report on the Trejes of United States
for the Smithsonian Institution, in fact a Sylva, with
colored plates by Sprague (which I could not resist
taking in hand, as that institution promised to bring
it out, and handsomely, at their expense), and give
my course of lectures in the college from March to
June. When all this is done I can cross the At-
lantic. . . . By engaging a brother professor to take
the duties which I have for the autumn term (assign-
ing to him pro rata from my salary), I shall be free
until 1st March ensuing. But I mean to ask for leave
of absence for a year, and trust I shall get it. ...

As far as it has yet shaped itself my plan is ...
to sit down hard to work for the autumn and winter
on the Exploring Expedition plants, to go to Paris in
the spring and settle such questions as must be settled
there after I come to know better than I now do (ex-
cept in the Compositse) what they are. Excepting
the Oregon and Californian plants, which are as-
signed to Torrey, and the Sandwich Islands Collec-
tion, a fine one, the collection is a poor one, often
very meagre in specimens, too much of an alongshore
and roadside collection to be of great interest. I am
not familiar with tropical forms and have no great

^T. 39.] TO GEORGE BENTHAM. 367

love for them. I dislike to take the time to study
out laboriously and guessingly, with incomplete speci-
mens, and no great herbaria and libraries to refer to,
these things which are mostly well known to botanists,
though not to me, and I want to be taken off from
North American botany for as short a time as possible.
I must therefore come abroad with them, which the
pay that is offered will enable me to do. I have
found a good deal to interest me in the Composite,
especially those of Rio Negro, of north Patagonia and
of the Andes of Peru. . . .

Now, will you take it as a bore, an imposition on
your kindness, if I frankly ask whether I can possibly
offer you any sort of inducement to aid me, at least so
far as to run over the collections with me, and name
those that are familiar to you as we pass, and refer
others, as nearly as one can without study, to their
proper places? Your mere comments in running
through would save half my time.

It is most natural that you should not incline to
any such trouble, and I know your hands are always
full ; so, if you say no, I shall feel it is quite right,
and do the best I can. . . .

We shall be most glad to visit you at Pontrilas
House at whatever time best suits Mrs. Bentham and
yourself, whether in summer or in autumn, any time
before we settle down into our winter quarters. . . .

With best wishes to Mrs. B. and yourself for the
new year, I am very faithfully yours, A. GRAY.

TO W. J. HOOKER.

April 2, 1850.

We were most glad to receive your kind favor of
January 29, which, however, lay over a fortnight in

368 A DECADE OF WORK AT HOME. [1850,

England, and in the mean time we heard not only of
Dr. Hooker's capture, but also, with much gratifica-
tion, of his release. What an indefatigable man he is !

Finding myself greatly behindhand, on account of
various hindrances and miscalculation of time, and
utterly unable to accomplish half the work I had in-
tended to do this spring, I have decided to break off ;
and to sail, in a packet-ship from Boston, on the
5th of June, with Mrs. Gray, for Liverpool, which we
may hope to reach by the close of that month. This
will give us an opportunity of seeing England in its
summer dress, and to make, almost immediately fol-
lowing the sea voyage, a trip up the Rhine to Switzer-
land. On our return I must set to work diligently,
and for a little while with Mr. Bentham, who has
kindly offered to look over the tropical collections,
which I know little of, and love as little.

The rewriting of all the structural parts of my 3d
edition of the " Botanical Text-Book," which I was
inadvertently drawn into, has proved a most time-
consuming business. It is not yet through the press.

Wright's collection of seeds I had divided into two
parts, and I send you one by the hands of Mr. Lowell,
who with his whole family goes out by this steamer.
You will receive them in good time to raise them. . . .

Mr. Lowell is of great use to us, in helping on
these explorations, and I look to his visit to Europe,
the sight of the great collections, and the society of
naturalists to strengthen his tastes and fire his zeal
in these respects.

I long to have him and Mrs. Lowell, a very good
friend of ours, make your acquaintance.

L&
Ji

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